by Amon Karagara

Created on: February 09, 2009   Last Updated: February 10, 2011

The importance of education to individuals and societies should never be underestimated.  Millions of parents struggle to take their kids to school and they never stop talking about the importance of education in their children's lives. School systems and colleges never cease stressing the importance of a college education or better, to their students. Governments spend a substantial amount of money in educating their citizens. More and more adults are continuously enrolling in schools to further their education.

Lets take a look at some of the ways in which education is important:

Learning. Education is a learning phase and it is itself important in learning. Through education, we are able to learn about new things and grasp new ideas. We get to learn about the world around us, as well as the what, when, why and how of a lot of stuff around us. Take education away and we would never know about millions of things. Education opens our insights into everything that takes place around us.

Better lifestyle choices. When we put our education into practice, we are able to think through our actions and make the right decisions. From our individual families to the communities we live in, an educated person is generally well suited to make better and more sounding decisions than an uneducated or less educated one. This should sound straightforward.

Increased earnings. Education increases our chances of earning more from our employment. In reality, a college graduate has a better chance of earning much more than a high school graduate throughout their career. So does a PhD holder versus a college graduate. This does not mean that less educated people will not succeed in life. Rather, education increases our chances of success.

Career advancement. With similar experience and efficiency, a highly educated person will advance through his/her career than the less educated counterpart. Therefore, in the long run, education helps determine how far we can go in terms of earnings and career advancement. No wonder people are always looking for ways to further their education in order to raise their chances of climbing that corporate ladder.

Community development and leadership potential. Educated people are more respected in society and therefore more trusted to lead their communities to greater standards. They can put their learning experience into practice when it comes to developing their communities. So the benefits of education will not only end with the individual but the entire community in which he/she lives. Therefore, a community with more educated people will generally have higher standards than a non-educated community.

Behavior and actions. Education is important in shaping our behavior and actions. It is clear that communities with highly educated people are better places to live in because of the low crime rate around such areas. On the contrary, less educated communities are usually more prone to criminal activities like rape, gangs, etc, and other activities, which educated people, would never get involved in.

Education therefore plays a vital role not only in the life of an individual, but its effects can be felt in the entire community and throughout the world. Its importance should be strongly emphasized.

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