The Importance of Quality Education

By Emma Andrew

Freedom is the ability to become whoever you would like. Every person carries a dream tucked away, a dream of the person they are when they drift off into a dazy, imaginative thought. When a child is young, we ask them: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Astronaut, actress, football player....Each one clutches some sort of dream close to their chest. Children are imaginative and unique in their imaginations. The bridge between dreams and reality is something that requires dedication, practice, and the necessary skills. In other words, education is the key. The ability for a young child to actively pursue what they want to become is an invaluable gift, and one that should be prioritized to elevate the quality of life.

However, although the pursuit of dreams is important, there is even more that is crucial to the development of a community. Knowledge is power, and this power is the ability to build a community from the ground up with strength and stability. There are various components of education that are essential. They include medical, environmental, agricultural, sexual, literacy, and financial education, as some of the most essential subjects. Each of these different forms of education can solve various problems within communities, as the main reason for problems is the absence of knowing the solution.

For much of history, and still existing in some regions of the world, education was not prioritized for half of the global population. Women were long believed to not need proper schooling or education, as their place was in the home with the children. However necessary and extremely important caring for a family may be, being a woman is much more multifaceted than simply bearing and raising children. Additionally, if the duty of women in some cultures is still to remain the centerpiece of the home, then proper education about subjects such as menstruation are crucial. Many women around the world are misinformed or even uninformed about the proper care of their period, which contributes largely to disease. What’s more is menstruation has often been a taboo in much of the world, thus brushing the essential knowledge that a woman needs to know about this life-giving function under the rug of ingratitude.

Bringing education onto the table of possibilities for women in countries where it had been otherwise neglected brings the power to women. Perhaps this distribution of control is what has suppressed the rights of this gender for centuries, the fear of relinquishing power is often a powerful force in the hearts of mankind. However, as education has become essential for women in many countries, those even seeking higher education for degrees in careers in which women have historically been absent from, many areas of the world still do not promote education for women. Bestowing the skills learned from a formal education upon a woman can largely improve society, by building them up to be the best that they can be, whether it be in a career, or as a mother, or in both.

“Education helps one case cease being intimidated by strange situations” -Maya Angelou

To truly learn is to seek to understand. As the world convulses under recent racial tensions, society is searching for answers. However, racism seems to stem from a fear of someone that is not a mirror reflection of you. Someone who is similar to you, but looks different and acts different. This fear is insidious and core-shaking, causing one to react negatively towards these differences. Fear is derived from the unknown, something you have tasted but do not fully understand. Perhaps if we sought to learn and therefore understand our brothers and sisters from every race, we might fear them less and love them more.

Although this may seem quite ideological, and in truth some people will always act in a judge-mental manner as it is human nature, educating the world population about each other could make a larger difference than we might think. Perhaps a valuable educational experience one might choose is that of travel. This will physically take you into the home of another group of people, where you will be enveloped by the culture, food, language, and optics of a place. When you observe people from anywhere over the world, you notice things. You notice the love of a parent for their child, the smiles of lovers, the mischief of children, and the quirks of being human that we all relate to. From seeing in-person that people from another place might do many things differently, but at the core they are human, we may develop compassion for everyone. A more viable option at this time lies in books. Books tell the tales of people from their own mouths or from observers, both offering perspectives that coalesce into a better understanding of an uncharted, personal cultural territory. To dive into a book and feel the celebrations, pain, and monotony of another person can bring you into their heart, and open yours to them.

With education in its many forms comes a better world. So let us learn, and give the gift of learning. Let us open our minds and hearts to our differences, and celebrate them as the spice of life. Let us experience the banquet life offers us: of love, friendship, and growth.