What is Education

Dictionary meaning of Education is –

the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.

OR

“a course of education”.

Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of educators, but learners may also educate themselves.^[1] Education can take place in formal or informal settings and any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational. The methodology of teaching is called pedagogy.

Education is commonly divided formally into such stages as preschool or kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and then college, university, or apprenticeship.

A right to education has been recognized by some governments, including at the global level: Article 13 of the United Nations‘ 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes a universal right to education.^[2] In most regions education is compulsory up to a certain age.

Why is education important?

At its most basic level, education is important because it gives people the baseline skills to survive as adults in the world. These skills include basic literacy and numeracy, as well as the ability to communicate, complete tasks and work with others. Education is essential for nearly every type of job or career, and in many cases, education makes the difference between being able to perform a job safely and accurately and being unable to perform a job at all.

However, many people believe that education is important in life for reasons beyond basic survival skills. Eleanor Roosevelt famously said that education is essential to good citizenship and that education is important to life because it enables people to contribute to their community and their country. Others believe education is important because it helps to answer life’s big questions, including questions of how to live, work and love. Still others believe that education is important because it teaches people about the world around them.