Daily Times

By and large, when a society experiences chaos, disrupt, famine of truth, illiteracy, social imbalance, poverty, hunger, and oppression and tyranny,  one of its interpretations is that the society is in the dire need of reforms and it is calling for a genuine reformer to come forward and take initiatives, risks and accept challenges of moving the society forward to the right direction; a direction that ensures that future will be brighter and free of injustice, a direction that leads to an egalitarian society, which should be free of ignorance, free of poverty and free of diseases.

Today, despite huge development in the field of information and technology,  medicine, physics,  space science, and media; despite the Internet has connected all nations of the world to communicate with one another, we have not been able to get rid of disputes and conflicts like resolving the issue of Occupied Kashmir, Palestine, and issues of immigrant refugees; fatal diseases such as cancer, polio, HIV etc; psychological problems such as mental health and suicide; social problems such as conservatism, injustice; educational problems such as low literacy rate, lack of creativity, purposelessness, and illiteracy; economic problems such as inflation, joblessness, and lack of opportunities; political problems such as rigged elections and climate change are uninterruptedly destabilizing our world and putting human existence in danger. The very existence of these problems shows that we as human beings need to excel in our capabilities, in our skills and in our expertise in order to drive them far and away and blockade their chances of reoccurring in our world.

Today, change and adaptation have become inevitable in the wake of persisting social, political, and economic state-of-affairs that have failed to deliver the expected results and, thus have caused disappointment in people around the globe. Disappointment because, today, people feel insecure and lonely despite having access to all luxuries of life and the latest technologies. In many parts of the world, people are going through the critical phase of their life where modern wars including the war of opinions and the war on social media have paralyzed them physically as well as psychologically thus depriving them of breathing in and out comfortably, expressing their views freely and keeping up their appearance.

Disappointment because there is dearth of respect for sovereignty between country to country and dearth of commitment between two parties, between potential employer and employees; disappointment because the most modern and civilized nations of the world have ceased to take responsibility for what they do, think of other nations and what others feel or suffer; disappointment because the current education system has failed to produce genuine leaders of tomorrow; leaders who have vision, patience, feelings of care and respect for fellow human beings; disappointment because members of a democratic society do not find a courage to wage a war against poverty and diseases, against unemployment and hunger, against militancy and illiteracy, and against oppression and tyranny.

The governments in the world lack vision, mission and they do not come out of drawing-room politics and so-called paper-pen planning in order to liberate oppressed people from hegemonic powers, liberate poor and backward nations of the world from hunger, diseases, pollution, corruption, unemployment, worsened law and order situation and of course illiteracy. What to do?  How can we say goodbye to disappointment and to our growing social, political and economic tensions?  Can a single government, a single nation or a single political leader help the world to resolve these problems? Is there anyone who has the capability to take the risk of putting his or her life in danger and think innovatively as what could be the best possible solution to introduce reforms in society and ensure peace and harmony, sentiments of goodwill, brotherhood and eradicate illiteracy? Haven’t the political theories like Communism, Liberalism, Socialism got potential to rescue the sinking boat of humanity? Then what is the ultimate solution?

As a matter of fact, the process of change has several developmental phases without which no stability can encompass change to sustain longer in society. Since it is a reality that miracles do not occur in today’s world except Photoshop and animations that we see in movies, everything wants some time to take its roots in society so is the case with the concept of CHANGE, which is purely a gradual process. It does not take place overnight. Ask yourself how long does it take you to think, reason and draw conclusions given in a complex situation? Similarly, change too requires some time and space to occupy in society after passing through various stages and levels. So, how to deal with the serious problems the world is facing today?  Is there any power that can claim to bring a change in society?  Most importantly, is that power flawless?

Yes, there does exist one power in the world, which is absolutely flawless in its originality and it really has scientifically-proven ability to fetch change in our society; change in people and their minds, change in economy, change in business sector, change in social and political arena, change in ideologies and theories if they’ve ceased to justify themselves and are no longer functional. This is the most powerful system in the world-so powerful than nuclear weapons or atomic energy. It is more feasible and easily installable in the world that all other systems cannot do so. It is the foundation for all other systems of the world including ideologies, theories, social and political systems; it is the base for power-play to bump off ignorance, injustice, to eradicate poverty and unemployment, to rid of hunger and diseases and to ensure peace and prosperity, freedom and justice. Without this system, we cannot empower people and nations. Besides, governments around the world cannot work for a brighter future and make sure that our future generations take a breath in a more secure and better world. Moreover, this system is the only response to all of our worries because this is itself a system; system that can bring reforms in society and rescue nations from all sorts of social, political, economic, psychological, and mental health problems. This system is nonetheless other than EDUCATION; the most powerful catalyst agent for real change in society.

Education ensures justice in the society which then paves for development in every field of life. If you want to eradicate injustice from a society, just produce competent, honest, and God-fearing judges and lawyers, responsible civil society as well as media, which again is not possible without a quality legal education. If you want to eradicate diseases, you, of course, would need to work on the production of quality medical professionals through education. If you intend to end poverty and joblessness and replace it with increased opportunities for jobs and entrepreneurship for young people, you will definitely have to seek help from education. Similarly, if you wish not to observe to disappointment, boredom, aimlessness and fear of risking your life for any reason, education is the best solution to address these problems and others.

Without education, we cannot think of conquering the world and known as champions because in order to claim the championship, we need to conquer our own problems. Without education, we won’t be able to differentiate between right and wrong, between good and bad, between light and darkness, and between pride and prejudice. If we don’t have formal education, we even cannot think, meditate, ponder over concepts and draw conclusions. If you are not educated and learned person, no matter what materialistic position or social status you enjoy, you cannot be called as a learned person. Rather you would always feel that you are not complete. Something is missing. Without education, you cannot read history, understand it and predict the future on its conclusions. If you are a political leader but lack formal schooling, your vision would be relatively narrowed and dull and you won’t be able to lead your nation through thick and thin.  Psychology, Economics, Business, Political Science, International Relations, Geography, Law and other pure and social sciences would be beyond your understanding. Uneducated people always remain occupied with their selfishness and they never bother what is happening in their surroundings and globally. They do not take interest in social, political and economic affairs of the world, they lack wisdom and they run out of bright ideas to share with others and to entertain themselves in order to find happiness.

This is the most reliable, trustworthy, competent and all-inclusive system in the world that is the answer to all of our worries. Education is a more sustainable, more feasible and more affordable system in the world, which can bring a real change in the world. It is the only weapon that can ensure reforms- reforms in society. Hence it is needed for the hour that the government should devise effective education policies and invest hugely in the education sector as without advancement in education the dream of a hundred percent literacy rate and development could not come true.

Education paves way for reforms in society. Its fundamental purpose is to generate critical thinking skills in the students and empower them to be self-sufficient, self-motivated and capable of reasoning, drawing conclusions and resolving problems. The education system should be able to produce competent individuals and leaders in every academic discipline. The concept of leadership is an essential component of the learning process. The curriculum designers must not ignore the leadership concept when working on curriculum development. Another purpose of education is to produce entrepreneurs, not merely job-seekers. Without the concept of entrepreneurship, the system will not function appropriately.

It enables us to tackle our day-to-day problems. We should promote education to overcome our social, political and economic problems; education to create ample opportunities for people, education to curb crimes from the society, education to eradicate drugs, and to stop human trafficking, education to do away with injustice, education to end poverty, education to end deprivation and inferiority complexion, education to cure diseases and education to be great, to live happy and to die with dignity and honor.  In short, education is the most powerful weapon in the world, that can change everything without oppression and tyranny.

Salient features of Education

1. Instructors are just like leaders who show students the path to walk on it and begin to learn themselves.
2. The education system should be all-inclusive; learners besides mastering up complex concepts, need to gain an overview of other related sciences.
3. Learning without a clear objective in mind would result in aimlessness.
4. Instructors, as well as learners, must be problem-solvers. They should take an interest in dealing with social, political and economic problems. If they don’t possess solutions for these problems, their learning is incomplete and of no use.
5. Teaching and research go hand in hand. Without research, teaching is an outdated phenomenon.
6. First-rate quality and innovation in teaching and learning process are significantly more important than any other element.
7. Knowledge if does not make you humble, caring, and kindhearted, is not genuine knowledge.
8. Degrees are just pieces of paper until you turn these papers into something valuable by imparting life-long learning skills to others.
9. Transformation of society, its development and advancement are only possible through higher education.
10. 1 Highly qualified and learned people can bring a positive change in society and ensure transformation.
11. 1 Learning is a lifetime continuous process, so it must not come to an end even after you’ve completed your Ph.D. degree.
12. 1 Research is not limited to producing research papers, working on dissertations and writing for a journal; rather it should be conducted to highlight social, political and economic problems and because the society wants you to address severe problems and give recommendations for improving better living conditions.
13. 1 Tending to avoid conducting research in a field other than your area or academic discipline, would result in the persisting of problems. Hence take an initiative and just do it as it will offer you lots of learning opportunities.
14. Faculty members should keep up taking part in professional training workshops from time to time in order to better cope with emerging challenges touching academia.
15. Commitment, dedication and passion are required to impart learning to students and without these qualities, students will not enjoy your class.
16. It is the responsibility of every faculty member to keep up updating his or her existing knowledge with the latest research and ongoing educational trends. Otherwise, students who have access to information on the Internet, would challenge the authority of instructors.
17. University management should make sure that faculty development programs are held without any stoppage.
18. The faculty and student exchange program is an excellent idea. The more faculty will engage with their foreign counterparts, the better would be chances for the improvement of the teaching-learning process.
19. Learning is not all about getting the highest grades in the exam, rather it is all about how far have you succeeded in mastering up difficult concepts and can impart them to learners.
20. 2 Learning should be student-centered.
21. 2 Teaching as a profession is highly prestigious and highly respected, so convey this respect to students too and regard them as participants in this sacred journey.
22. This university management should take participants’ learning extremely seriously and discourage all those activities that hinder teaching-learning work.
23. Curricular and extracurricular activities enhance students’ learning and sharpen their skills, so opportunities must be provided to them to grow up physically as we as intellectually.
24. To be an ideal teacher depends on how much you’re resourceful for students and open to new ideas.
25. Industrial linkages and linkages with foreign universities are very important for our educational institutions.
26. It is the fore and foremost responsibility of university career services to explore job opportunities for university graduates instead of collecting their resumes only.
27. Educational leadership and management often go hand in hand.
28. Educational leadership is more influential than political and another type of position because educational leadership is all about social reforms-reforms in a society.
29. Individuals who understand educational leadership become successful administrators and inspiring personalities whom people think highly of and find attachment with them.
30. Knowledge management is an art and every one of us should try to maintain and update their knowledge and impart it to others and the knowledge would be secure.
31. Knowledge is a contextual concept, it is learned in context, relearned and re-used when the need arises.
32. We should get knowledge in order to leave a positive impact on others’ lives and contribute to the social and political development of society.
33. A timely investment in good schooling will result in a secure and bright future of your child.
34. Education is the future and tomorrow belongs to those who obtain education today and get ready for tomorrow.

The writer is a social scientist who frequently shares his ideas on media, society, education, culture and language.