Topic: Education
Education was promoted from the earliest times in the U.S. Since many settlers had strong Christian religious beliefs, a rudimentary education was necessary to read and understand the Bible. That education turned out to be useful in work as well as business pursuits.by Kamala Sarup
(centrist)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Education was promoted from the earliest times in the U.S.
By Kamala Sarup
Education was promoted from the earliest times in the U.S. Since many settlers had strong Christian religious beliefs, a rudimentary education was necessary to read and understand the Bible. That education turned out to be useful in work as well as business pursuits.
Laws were passed that required some schooling, and colleges were created early, most by religious leaders to become ministers to the people. These colleges later became secular as learning turned more to science, agriculture, technologies, art, literature, history, etc. Governments used taxes to install primary, secondary and college institutions.
Education is a vast subject, so I can't get too much into it here, but education enhances one's ability to get better work and become an informed citizen, which is important in a democracy - and for peace.
If people are left uneducated, they won't know too much about the possibilities for a better life. I don't see how a democracy can function adequately unless the general population has at least the ability to read, and to know what is going on in the government so that they can choose leaders intelligently. If the people are uneducated in the democracy, then the minority of educated people will pass laws and elect officials who promote their interest rather than interests of the general population. Also, scientific and technical work require high reading skills.
Many factory workers required some reading knowledge and some require knowledge of arithmetic and trigonometry too. I can't imagine how the U.S. could become so technically proficient and rich without considerable investments in education so that expertise could be disseminated throughout industries to people who work in them.
US Democracy- The United States of America - has always supported the cause of democracy and human rights in South Asia, and particularly in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Afghanistan. India is already a well established nation of more than a billion people, where democracy has taken deep roots with more than six decades of democratic exercises.
Pakistan also has been a foster the growth of democracy. Pakistan and Bangladesh are now Islamic Republics. Bhutan is a Buddhist nation, similarly Sri Lanka is a Buddhist nation.
A Nepali scholar Pandey said "The United States of America is a nation of immigrants. This openness to accept all people from around the world is the beauty and strength of America. This humanitarian approach to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the bedrock of the US nation".
So, I have seen see many connections between education and a democracy.
Kamala is an editor for www.mediaforfreedom.com. Her specialties are in-depth reporting and writing stories on peace and anti-war issues, women, terrorism, democracy and development. Some of her publications include: Women's Empowerment in South Asia, Nepal; Prevention of Trafficking in Women Through Media; Efforts to Prevent Trafficking in for Media Activism. She has also written two collections of stories.
-- http://www.mediaforfreedom.com
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Kamala Sarup only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Kamala Sarup is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
As used in this article, education refers to book learning, that is, it refers to literacy and ability with symbols, and with math. But education has a broader meaning. The Plains Indians educated their youngsters about how to survive, about how to hunt, build fire, build a teepee, about how to track and read animal sign. That culture survived just fine by educating their young - until there was a large cultural pressure that required literacy.
Knowledge shall forever govern ignorance Said James Madison.
We survive as a culture because we educate our children in our ways. Today litaracy is much more important than ever before, yet we don't have good understanding of how to produce children with excellent literacy. We don't understand exactly why one student is very literate and another has to work his butt off to achieve mediocre results. We don't understand the failure point and can't, therefore, improve it. Except to encourage students to study harder, or drug them numb if they fidget in their seats. The area could use some examination, else we spend money needlessly without showing results.
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