On Education

Whether a country is developed or in the process of developing can easily be distinguished from the visual state of things. Just a ride through the streets is usually enough to provide a more or less accurate image of the state of the infrastructure. But the real sadness, the real fact of the matter lies in the stories of the people when you see the world from their point of view. Though there is poverty, corruption and all that lies in between, behind the haze of development there is an enthusiasm unmatched by those growing up in more fortunate circumstances. In schools which provide at least a minimum level of education to those who need it and desire it most, and those who can least afford it, teachers are respected and all are welcomed with the equal belligerence of children who long to learn. During the summer, I met and learnt with and taught some children from a slum in a school. There, I met two boys who were in what I then considered to be, a most 'unusual' situation. Though they were already sixteen, they had to learn with the younger children in this school because they had never attended regularly and were therefore almost completely illiterate. Only three days after I began to teach them, they came to say goodbye to me, adding that they might not see me again. When I asked why, they said that their brother, while employed only in small jobs, made enough money to keep his family going and it was time for them to do the same. I started arguing that getting an education was more important, that it would get them better jobs and provide an improved standard of living if they studied now. In short, I told them what we are taught everyday – that education is the answer. In response, they smiled knowingly and said simply, "Our families need our help today. If we wait for an education, we may not have a family to benefit." And it was the bare truth. Even while I had been preaching what I had been taught, my words had sounded hollow because the statement was so far from the reality.
These two boys were past their innocence and already considering the responsibility of a family to look after, something, which very few of us are burdened with in the West. It is true that education benefits greatly in the long-term. But for families who cannot afford the education, the children grow up knowing that however much they may want to learn, it will never become a reality.
This is not only due to the impoverished state of millions of people around the world, but also because of the weakness of the state system and government, whose responsibility it is to implement certain policies that make standard things (such as food, education and water) accessible to everyone, cost-free. But the few government schools that are in place are low in standard of teaching and attendance. It is vital that schooling, at least primary if not entirely, be gratuitous and available to everyone regardless of social status. We would not confront the situation of these boys, as millions do, if this were the case.
Education cannot be the answer to all of life's questions. But it is most certainly the answer to some. The example of these two boys is a lesson: it tells us two things. First, that Western ideals that education must come first and foremost cannot hold in every situation, that sometimes people, who we presume to be ignorant, must make much more complex choices than we have had to face. Second, if education were made more available, this type of situation could eventually be eradicated. Education is still a very vital component in the advancement of a developing society. But though they say 'practice what you preach' now we must try to understand why sometimes, they cannot.

From Issue #5 published Friday 7