Education Reform Necessary
Tuesday, 11 July 06 - by : Fahim

Taken from "News From Bangladesh", online version, written by Kamala Sarup.
Monday July 17 2006 14:16:38 PM BDT

Kamala Sarup

Education is a vast subject, so I can’t get too much into it here. Education enhances one’s ability to get better work and become an informed citizen, which is important in peace. If people are left uneducated, they won’t know too much about a possible better life.

Education was promoted from the earliest times in the U.S. Since many settlers had strong religious beliefs, a rudimentary education was necessary to read and understand the religion. That education turned out to be useful in work and business pursuits too.

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. I don’t see how a nation can function adequately unless the general population has at least the ability to read and write to know what is going on in the country so that they can choose leaders intelligently.

If the people are uneducated in the nation, then the minority of educated people will pass laws and elect officials who promote the interests of the elite rather than the general population.

Also, scientific and technical work require high reading skills. Many factory workers required some reading knowledge and some required 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. Thus, Education reform, ensuring basic education for all children and making secondary education possible for those who perform well in basic education will vastly improve the economic potential of the average person and will make it possible for young people to consider jobs.

We must establish trade schools.
We must initiate a National Literacy Campaign.
We have to import technology, including technical knowledge.

The basic education should not be used for political means.
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Journalist and Story Writer Kamala Sarup is an editor of peacejournalism.com. Some of the main focus of the e-magazine has been on disarmament, conflict resolution, nonviolent sanctions, conflicts and crises. Its activities include training,research and supports peace, democracy and development in societies undergoing crisis and change. Kamala Sarup is specialising in in-depth reporting and writing on Peace Resolutions, Anti war, Women, Terrorism, Democracy, and Development.

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