Does education help solve social problems?

Education plays an important role in the evolution of a nation.

Today, people are warming up to the idea of education being instrumental in an all-rounded development of a person instead of just being a course to earn degrees and monetary success in life. It is broadly accepted that learning plays a key role in shaping one’s personality.

We get to know the world around us through education. It helps us build opinions and develop a perspective of looking at life.  It forms the groundwork of any society and is one of the most important elements in addressing social problems.

A social problem is an issue or a factor within the society that affects the real world. Gender inequality,   poverty, child abuse, unemployment, racism and discrimination based on religion are some of the many social issues prevailing in our society.

As a child, we make sense of the world in terms of right and wrong, good and bad. But as we grow up, we tend to understand the world in more complex ways. School is the foremost source of knowledge.  From the early stages, we are exposed to different cultures and traditions. We also gain communication skills, we get to interact with different kinds of people, we are introduced to several opportunities and interactive projects.

What we learn in school will largely determine the person we will become in the future. Not only does education assist in molding our character but it also makes us aware of social evils and creates a desire for change by expanding our vision and outlook to see the world. Education helps us understand what society is and what our responsibilities in that society are. It provides us with the knowledge to analyze our social structure and adopt appropriate and adequate social reforms.

Education empowers women to fight for their rights and challenge inequality. Across several countries, educated women are less likely to be unemployed or get married at a young age.

To promote education, Article 45 and Article 21-A from the Indian Constitution state that free and compulsory education must be given to children until 14 years of age as it is their fundamental right.

The recent National Education Policy 2019, released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, contains initiatives for strengthening open and distance learning and technology integration at all levels of education.

Education also has an important role to play in preventing crime. It is vital to engage young people in education and provide them with sufficient support and resources so they have the opportunity to develop to their full potential.

Individuals learn to be more patient through schooling. Growing international evidence and research suggest that criminals tend to be less educated.

Gary Becker, a Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences in 1992, has implied that increased schooling can reduce an individual’s criminal propensity.

Education also adds up to the economic growth of a country. Upliftment in the human mind and desired sociable changes in the society can be brought by education only. It helps to build a better society and in turn, a better nation by bringing us out of the darkness of ignorance and enlightening us with knowledge.