Becoming a Responsible Citizen? Can Education Help
The word 'education' has Greek roots. Ancient philosopher Aristotle defines education as “a process necessary for the creation of a sound mind in a sound body.”
Education is a process of developing a human being into a person who is reasonably informed about the world in which he lives. This enables him to model his life according to the aims and objectives set forth by the cultural and ideological entity of which he or she is a member and tells him about his responsibilities to make him punctual and to balance his life. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) Said: “And acquire knowledge from cradle to grave.”
Education is the fundamental factor in the process of human development. The importance of education in the process of nation building and economic prosperity can not be denied. The famous Greek philosopher Plato, while emphasizing the need and importance of education, said:
“Education brings light to human mind and eye.”
There is no denying the fact that uneducated and illiterate people cannot perform their duties, national as well as personal, in a proper and befitting manner. The success of democracy, the most popular system of government in modern times, largely depends on education.
Every civilized society is desirous of progress in the modern age, gives top most priority to the acquisition of knowledge and spends huge amounts on education in order to curb and eradicate ignorance. Educated people are the source of strength for the state, for they can effectively contribute towards the development and progress of society. They can ably help and assist the state in achieving the desired goals of a welfare state.
It is imperative that education should be imparted in view of the Islamic ideals in order to enable them to fully understand their social and political commitments. It is also essential to train the young generation in a way as to inculcate national spirit in them so that they should always prefer national interests over personal motives. The technical and professional education should be emphasized in order to prepare the youth to take on the national responsibilities. The educational system should therefore be built upwards from the foundations so as to reflect national aspirations and goals.
Improvement in the education system is not being implemented suitably so as to develop a proper understanding among the people for solving the monster problems of over population, inequality, unemployment and corruption. Only the masses (the common people) with suitable education can produce national leaders to take the country to the heights of success that it deserves. It is commonly known now that our Reclaiming Cultural and Social Diversity: Mobilizing Youth for National Harmony and Peace: the Search for Resources Within 21
education system is not functioning well and cannot be compared favorably with the education system of the developed countries.
Most of the students in our schools and colleges are not receiving quality education with the result that most of them are neither able nor wise after the completion of their studies. How many of our highly qualified people can write correctly, speak coherently and discuss logically our social, political and economic problems? Then many thousands of young men and women cannot get employed for months and years because of the education system. To be more specific, the first requirement for our society is to introduce an education system that guarantees universal education up to a certain level within a few years and then the continuation of this education beside teaching the children and adults how to read, write, speak both Urdu and English.
They should be made to understand social and political problems and taught to think correctly and behave properly according to their ages. Without doing this a stable, balanced democracy and government cannot be brought into...
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