Is education soul of society?

Hakim Fateh

QUETTA: Well-known English writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton put forward that “education is simply the soul of society which passes from one generation to another”.

To put it in a simple way, education is an eternal and everlasting soul that never decays to be resurrected by generations but it resurrects a decadent, withered-away and marginalized generation.

It was an inerasable drop of ink emitted from the sword-like pen of Hazrat Idris (As) and reached the pen of Geoffrey Chaucer and Horace Mann. From keeping the infrastructure of the first shelter of preservation to raising the flag of popularity on the moon, education remained the cordial source that metamorphosed the unfamiliarity into a world of awareness and revived literate societies. Education paves the way and erases the obstructions and obstacles of social progress and thus becomes the passage to progress.

Education is categorized into many types but they can be broadly categorized into three parts.

The first type of education is formal education which is gained under the mandate of an institute that is tasked to implement the rules and regulate the curriculum. It is classified into certain ranks and stages namely: pre-school, primary, middle, secondary, higher secondary and so forth. Formal education plays an instrumental role in spreading awareness and it is the main factor for the stability of any society.

Moving ahead, non-formal education comes second. It is another type of acquiring education. Non-formal education is not standardized, formal, systematic and curricular. It comprises lifelong education, second chance education, adult education and so on. This form of education is influential in enhancing the efficiencies and capabilities of disabled individuals of society to whom education is not accessible.

Finally, informal education is the third type. Informal education is acquired through personal experiences, social and parental education which is adapted from parents, society and experiences. The session of this education is in progress from cradle to death.

To develop a stable society and to ensure its consistent progress, provision of education in all its forms is important. To achieve the target, systematic schooling must be established with standard enforced rules. On top of all, each and every individual in the society should be creative and innovative first.