Introduction
In this great day, I have decided to make my presentation on number 4 that is quality education. Quality education is one of the goals, set to be achieved by UNESCO. Why do we need education in our life? Have you ever asked yourself the question, Perhaps you had when you were feeling bored in the history class.
Well, most of us spend significant years of life in education to make sure we have a better life in future. But there are millions of people who do not even have access to the basic education.
Education which is considered as one of the fundamental human rights is a luxury for millions of people. Like you and I, those people also want a better future for themselves, but unfortunately, there are a lot of challenges that force a huge portion of our society to dwell in the shadows of illiteracy.
What is quality education? When we talk about quality education, then we are going to talk about so many different things, because, quality education can do so many things to our lives. That is why it has so many aspects. So I’m going to elaborate on those various roles that education play in our lives. First and foremost, before I start talking about those roles played by education, there is need for me to look back at how education evolves in human life.
Quality education enables primitive people to come up with different types of tools
Right from the beginning, that is since time immemorial, man has employed education to achieve so many things in his life. It was education that enabled primitive people to come up with different types of tools, that they used in order to accomplish certain things in their lives, such as farming, hunting, waging war against one other, among others things. Education was employed to accomplish the things I have mentioned. So since education was very important to the life of the primitive people, then its significance to our life cannot be over emphasized. Therefore, I want to stress here that, even the current developments that we are witnessing in various parts of our lives, were possible, through qualitative education. So qualitative education can said to be the bedrock of human life. Any society that aspire to develop, must accord priority to quality education, because, it’s the quality education that ensure the existence of quality of the lives of any society. If that is the case, then there is no reason why we should not make it compulsory upon ourselves, to ensure the provision of quality education. Quality education is so important that it becomes indispensable in the life of every society that want to be at the forefront of technological and scientific development.
It’s education that can make one’s life, stand out from the life of the people who are not educated.
Apart from that, its education that can make one’s life, stand out from the life of the people who are not educated. That is why the life, behavior and social interaction of any person with qualitative education, will greatly differ from those who are otherwise. It’s is the education that teach us how to conduct our social life. It teaches us how to treat each other properly. Without qualitative education, we cannot live a happy life; we can be like animals in the bush.
Quality education has helped to developed and improves our lives.
So without wasting much time, let me dwell on the main focus of this paper, that is to look at the various ways that quality education has helped to develop and improve our lives. As I said earlier, education is the bedrock of any kind of development that we are witnessing at the moment. So let begins with how education has contributed towards the evolution of technological development. In the past, the technological devices that we see now could only exist, in the imagination of some people, but now those technological devices are used by us. That is the technological devices that we use, have never been imagined would exist at this moment, are now part and parcel of our lives. So it’s through knowledge that those technological devices have come about. If it were not for quality education, the technological devices that we use at the moment would not see the light of the day. Because, quality education was used, imparted and it was the receivers that came up with these technological devices that we use in our daily dealings. Therefore, this means that, quality education is the bedrock of the technological devices that we enjoy and benefit from at this time.
It contributed towards the evolution of technological development.
Technological devices are playing very vital roles in our lives. for example, we can use a handset to make a call, send message to faraway places, if it were not for the existence of quality education we couldn’t be able to send messages which would reach the person that it’s means for, within a blink of an eye. We also use technological devices to receive information about the happenings around the world. That is why with the advent of these technological devices. We now call the world a global village. Because of technological devices, brought about by education we can now interact in a way that is very easy. Unlike in the past decades, sending message to a person that was faraway, would take days or months, but now all that is history. Nowadays, we can make a video calls to the people that are far away from us, we can play games and all that would not have been possible without technological development which was made possible, by qualitative education. Almost all those countries that brought things of technological development, are able to achieve it through qualitative education they impart to their citizens.
Quality education enables the Medical Officers/ Health Care Personnel to save lives.
Apart from technological development, it’s the quality education that enables health care personnel to conduct their works, which is to save the lives of the peoples, among the medical personnel are nutritionists, medical doctors, physicians, pharmacists etc, have the responsibility of maintain the lives of people, diagnosing, recommending preventive measures enlightening people on how to protect themselves from diseases, and how to overcome such diseases when they contract them, such as covid_19 pandemic which as we know affected the whole world. The disease brought about lockdown, which was recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Moreover, the organization advised people to stay at home, wash hands frequently, wear face mask, avoid touching eyes, noses, mouths with unwashed hands and covering our mouths with tissue or sleeve when copping etc. If you feel unwell; if one is down with fever, copping and difficulty in breathing one should call free toll number for medical attention, in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Without quality education, those things can never be possible. And corona virus will be overcome by the grace of God.
It’s the quality education that enables us to think and act rationally.
Apart from that, another way that education plays a vital role in our lives is that, the quality education makes a person to be reasonable and right thinking. Because of lack of quality education, most of our leaders are taking decisions that are detrimental to our development. But if you go to the developed countries, they have leaders who are right thinking and far sighted who are able to make the weigh pros and cons of a decision before taking it. But in our continent the reverse is the case. That is why our leaders act irrationally. So it’s knowledge that enables a person to differentiate himself from those who are not knowledgeable, because, knowledge makes a person to be rationale, right thinking and good in his day to day dealings. Because of the quality of education, developed countries are able to harness that education in a way that ensures the development of their countries.
It’s education that brings about the development of economy
Apart from that, the development of economy of other country is made possible by giving priority to quality education. Because, it’s education that equip the leaders of those country to make decision that are related to the economic development of their countries. Unlike what is found in our countries, where leaders lack quality knowledge that will enable them, to steer affairs of their countries judiciously. It’s no wonder that countries like America, England among others, are at the forefront of developed countries. Why are they developed?, the reason is simple, because they prioritize quality education, they make sure that their citizens receive the education that will make them a kind of citizens that are qualified to help their countries develop economically. For example, there is a country which is called Singapore which used to be very poor, but now that country is among the richest countries in the world. Why?. In a book written by Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore. So this person was able to kick start the process of developing Singapore from the scratch. And how was he able to achieve that?, he was able to achieve that, because he employed the quality knowledge that he gained in a proper manner. So that is why if you look at all those countries that are developed now, managed to achieved that development, because they have people who have received quality education. That is why UNESCO is preaching for quality education, especially to countries like ours that are suffering from lack of economic development. We are left behind, that is the 3rd world countries are left behind in terms of development, because of the poor standard of the education of those countries. The educational systems of our countries are in dilapidated condition. That is why we are always going backward instead of moving forward. But those countries that prioritize knowledge are always moving forward instead of moving backward.
It Inculcate patriotism
Moreover, quality education plays vital roles in our lives, in the sense that, it inculcates patriotism in people’s minds. That is what we lack in our continent, because patriotism is one of the essential prerequisite for a person to be a responsible leader. Because a leader with patriotism has nothings at the forefront of his heart, other than to ensure that, the lives of his people are improved significantly. It’s also the patriotic leader who ensures that essential things that bring happiness and harmonious life are provided. So quality education, like I said, inculcates patriotism. A leader that is patriotic will not allow the people of his country to suffer, that is every decision such leader takes is consistent to the wishes and aspirations of his people. However, a leader who is unpatriotic doesn’t care about the major needs of his people, that is why lack of patriotism has a root, from lack of quality education that we are suffering from in African countries. And those countries that are developed, developed because their leaders are patriotic, and that patriotism was inculcated in them, by the kind of knowledge that they received.
How to provide qualitative education
- In order to have a quality education, a person must be allowed to study the course or to choose the field that he is interested in.
- It will also be acquired with a greater ease and satisfaction.
- The person will also use the experience he garnered and apply it in a task dealing with its principles, laws, perception, thinking and reasoning process, memory and problem solving.
- The targets clearly is to point out that the technical and vocational skills are important aspects of quality education, and to ensure everyone is not just educated, but also skilled enough to perform the role of a professional effectively.
- Clearly, the approach towards educating the children needs to be upgraded. Perhaps, technological advancements like I said earlier can contribute to change the existing education model for better. Also, the material used for teaching needs to be updated, and more stress should be put on critical thinking.
- There are almost more than 93 billion children in today’s world most of which don’t have access to any kind of school, while poverty is one big issue. The funding authority are supposed to contribute towards achieving these goals, the factors like lack of infrastructures, poor nutrition and political status of the country often contribute to the situation. Well, factors like the lack of funds, crisis of trained teachers and the political condition of the country do need attention from higher authorities like UNESCO, but it is unfortunate to see people keeping children from receiving a proper education, just because of their gender or disability.
- Raising awareness about the education for all: Lack of awareness is one of the significant challenges in achieving the goal of quality education for all. Every one of us needs to contribute as an individual to eradicate gender biasness, narrow mindset and our perception about people with different ability. Hopefully, UNDP and other organizations engaged in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are working on the same lines to accomplish the targets. Perhaps they are working on something even better. As an individual, our objective should be to educate people about the importance of education for all.
- Raising the standards of teachers: The teachers should be provided with infrastructures, quality education & good training. In one out of every three countries in the world, less than 75 percent of the teachers are trained to national standards. Also, there aren’t enough teachers who can help to achieve even the primary education for all.
According to Kail: (2006) “More so, it throws light on the essential personality, interest, aptitudes, characteristics of effective teaching etc. so as to aspire him to become a successful teacher.”
The teacher must play a vital role, and apply teaching methods, that discusses the conflicts, motivation, anxiety, adjustment level of aspiration etc.
Conclusion
According to edugist.org UNESCO plays the following roles in achieving quality education for all:
With combined efforts, challenges like the lack of infrastructure, fund crisis and the deficiency of trained teachers can be overcome in a considerable amount of time. However, we cannot achieve the goal of universal primary education, if the girls and the children with disabilities are treated differently.
United Nations has made some commendable efforts in the past to improve the status of global education, and it will continue to do so in the foreseeable future as well. The “Education for All” movement conducted by UNESCO is one such initiative that aimed to meet the basic educational needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015. However, it did not achieve the objectives set by UN.
In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development where “quality education for all” (goal no. 4) was recognized as one of the primary goals to achieve sustainable growth worldwide. Interestingly, some ambitious targets have been set in the SDG 4 (quality education for all) which can lead the way for equal opportunities in education to everyone.
The SDG 4 targets involve the following:
All the girls and boys should complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education by 2030 so that they can provide SDG 4 effective learning results.
All the girls and boys should receive quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education by 2030 so that they can be ready for the primary education.
Every man and woman should have equal access to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education (university education as well) by the year 2030.
The number of adolescent and adults, who possess relevant skills (including technical and vocational skills) for entrepreneurship, employment or other decent jobs, should increase substantially by 2030.
The gender disparities in education should be eliminated, and there should be equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the people with disabilities, children in vulnerable situations and the indigenous people by 2030.
All the youth and a substantial portion of adults (men and women alike) should achieve literacy and numeracy by 2030.
All learners should acquire the necessary skills and knowledge required to promote sustainable development by the year 2030.
Develop and improve education facilities that are child disability and gender sensitive, and offer safe, non-violent, comprehensive and effective learning condition for everyone.9
The number of scholarships available to the developing countries, in several least developed countries, small island developing states and African nations should expand globally to ensure for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programs in developed counties and other developing countries by the year 2020.
The supply of skilled and qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, specifically the least developed countries and small island developing states should be increased substantially by 2030.
The context of equal opportunities for all has been addressed a number of times in these targets. However, these targets do not tell us how we can achieve quality education for all by 2030.
United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which is working towards the fulfillment of SDGs, certainly has a plan of action to achieve these aforementioned targets. Even though there hasn’t been any definite statement about the approach, it is believed that the following measures can be taken to deliver quality education for all by the year 2030.
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