Introduction:

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela. The classic definition of education is”the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university”. But education is much more than that. It is a process of continuous learning which can be acquired anywhere at any time and any age. It is the fundamental right of every citizen because it promotes empowerment and ensures development benefits.

Body:

Education has helped bring about the following transformation on a global level.

• Education and social transformation:
  • Education has a history of fostering positive social change, by encouraging things like political participation, social equality, and environmental sustainability.
  • Through its collaborations, it promotes engagement with communities, industries, governments, and the media.
  • It helps to change many social beliefs in terms of higher age of marriage, child planning and better health parameters.
  • Education lights every stage of the journey to a better life, especially for the poor and the most vulnerable.
  • It spreads awareness against Blind faith and superstitions which bog down society. People misled by false beliefs do more harm than good to society.
  • Education helps us question, gives us an analytical mind and helps us reject superstitions. An educated mind asks for logic and scientific reasoning behind all actions.
  • It can be used for the upliftment of society since it helps elevate the social and economic conditions in the marginalized sections of society
  • Education helps lower crime rate. That’s because the educated can differentiate between what’s right and what’s wrong. Research has shown that increasing the high school completion rate by just 1 percent for all men ages 20-60 would save the U.S. up to $1.4 billion per year in reduced costs from crime. This is true for other regions as well.
  • Many researches have proven that in countries where women are subjected to gender bias, education helped them stand up against marital violence, improved their decision making capabilities and helped them take charge of their own lives.
• Education as a harbinger of modern democratic values:
  • It makes us better citizens by teaching us how to conduct ourselves through life by following rules and regulations and giving us a sense of conscience
  • It broadens the mind and provides alternative perspectives, and this can change our students’ outlook and their approach to the world.
  • Education and decrease in inequality and decreasing gap between developing and developed countries.
• Education as a tool for political enlightenment:
  • Many people find themselves taken advantage of constantly because they do not know their rights, or understand why things work the way they do.
  • Education gives them the tools to recognize when they are being mistreated and stand up for themselves.
  • Helping someone become educated is helping them protect themselves and their friends from harm.
• Education as a tool for gainful employment:
  • Education is the first step for people to gain the knowledge, critical thinking, empowerment and skills they need to make this world a better place.
  • Better education opens up a host of opportunities and this is especially relevant in the times we live in where technology and education ensure that opportunities are not bound by geography.
  • Education can stimulate economic growth less directly, by increasing innovation, productivity, and human capital.
• Education and growth of globalization:
  • Digital education has helped achieve this. Education has given students from across borders opportunities to connect and communicate and work towards building a better future and a better world.
  • For example, a professor in India can help inspire a student in Afghanistan to study and travel the world, help herself and a whole generation after her, to lead a better life.
• Education helps to save the planet:
  • Overall climate transformation and the consequences increased number of natural disasters and cut down the agricultural production.
  • This may turn 122 million people into poverty by 2035.
  • The establishment of green industries will depend on high-skilled, literate workers. Agriculture grants 1/3rd of all greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Therefore, schooling can provide future farmers with relevant knowledge about great challenges that can be adopted to reduce greenhouse effect from agriculture.

However, Education’s unique power to act as a catalyst for wider development goals can only be fully realized, however, if it is equitable. Quality of education is vital for economic and sustainable growth.

Conclusion:

To quote Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, “books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first”.

Therefore Education has the latent potential to initiate change, not only at the heart of a person, but in society, and in time the world. It is this deep-rooted nature of change that makes Education one of the most powerful weapons to impact the human race – to change the world.