Education: A liberating and democratising force

In Sri Lanka and the world over the vital sector of education was one of the worst-affected by the ongoing second wave or new strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that when the pandemic is brought under control, children will have a new desire and attitude towards education. It will not only be a question of having tuition till late at night and passing examinations but the young people will have an inquiring mind to search for the truth to find out what happens and why. Like our body has five senses, so does our mind. Most young people are aware of or fully use only three of these senses – knowledge, memory and intelligence. But there are two more which some young people are not even aware of. They are creativity and imagination. It is by using and developing their sense of creativity and imagination that young people have turned out to be famous in various fields. Especially in this digital age where we could do in one minute something that earlier required one hour. We need to use our creative and imaginative skills to make maximum use of the digital marvels. 

On January 25 the United Nations marks the International Day of Education in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. The 2021 theme is, ‘Recover and Revitalize Education for the COVID-19 Generation’. In a statement the UN explains why the General Assembly on January 24, 2018 declared this International Day of Education. The world body says that without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind. 

According to the UN, about 258 million children and youth still do not attend school, about 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math, less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school. Their right to education is being violated and it is unacceptable. 

Some independent political analysts believe that the lack of education was one of the main factors for the ongoing political crisis in the United States. Outgoing President Donald Trump put together a coalition of various right-wing supremacists, extremists or terrorists. On January 6 Mr. Trump used or incited this half-educated or uneducated mob to stage what has been described as a ‘Coup Klux Klan’. The Ku Klux Klan is one of the most notorious right-wing extremist groups in the US. The mob broke into Capitol Hill or the US Congress while the Senate and the House of Representative members were holding a joint session to certify the election of Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as Vice President. On January 13 the House of Representatives impeached Mr. Trump for inciting a white terrorist invasion in one of the citadels of democracy.  

Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris will be sworn in on January 20. Many independent analysts believe the new administration will bring about a new era in US and world history. The Biden-Harris administration is expected to act effectively to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control. Reports say the new administration will ensure a more equitable distribution of the vaccines that are being produced while appealing to the people to take other safety precautions such as wearing masks, physical distancing and regular washing of hands with soap and water with the regular use of sanitizers. President Biden and Vice President Harris are also expected to take effective steps to end white racist supremacy or extremism which has gone on for centuries with white colonial powers invading many poor countries including Sri Lanka to plunder their resources. The Biden-Harris administration is also likely to take steps to bring about racial equality, social justice and gender equality first in the US and then in other democratic countries. 

One of our greatest scientists, Albert Einstein has said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think”. India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has gone even deeper saying, “Education is a liberating force, and in our age it is a democratizing force, cutting across the barriers of caste and class, smoothing out inequalities imposed by birth and
other circumstances.”