What is Education ?
The term education is derived from latin word educo, educatio & educare. Etymologically, the word education is derived from the latin word “educo”, where ‘e’ means “out of” and ‘duco’ means “I lead”. According to this view, education means “I lead out darkness into brightness”.
Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Educational methods include teaching, training, storytelling, discussion and directed research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of educators, however learners can also educate themselves. 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.
The education sector or education system is a group of institutions (ministries of education, local educational authorities, teacher training institutions, schools, universities, etc.) whose primary purpose is to provide education to children and young people in educational settings. It involves a wide range of people (curriculum developers, inspectors, school principals, teachers, school nurses, students, etc.). These institutions can vary according to different contexts.
Schools deliver education, with support from the rest of the education system through various elements such as education policies and guidelines – to which school policies can refer – curricula and learning materials, as well as pre- and in-service teacher training programmes. The school environment – both physical (infrastructures) and psychological (school climate) – is also guided by school policies that should ensure the well-being of students when they are in school. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has found that schools tend to perform best when principals have full authority and responsibility for ensuring that students are proficient in core subjects upon graduation. They must also seek feedback from students for quality-assurance and improvement. Governments should limit themselves to monitoring student proficiency.
The education sector is fully integrated into society, through interactions with numerous stakeholders and other sectors. These include parents, local communities, religious leaders, NGOs, stakeholders involved in health, child protection, justice and law enforcement (police), media and political leadership.
Formal 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 and the United Nations.[a] In most regions, education is compulsory up to a certain age. There is a movement for education reform, and in particular for evidence-based education with global initiatives aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4, which promotes quality education for all.
FUNCTIONS OF EDUCATION IN HUMAN LIFE
(1) Development of inborn potentialities – education helps the child to develop.
(2) Modifying behaviour – Education helps to modify the past behaviour through learning and different agencies of education.
(3) All round development – Education aims at all round development of child-physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual.
(4) Preparing for the future – After completion of education the child can earn its livelihood getting proper education, which has productivity. The education should be imparted according to the own interest of the child.
(5) Progressive development of innate powers, All round development of personality, Control, redirection and sublimation of instincts, Character building and moral development, Creation of good citizens, Awalening of social feelings, Preaparation of Culture and civilization, Social reforms and National security.
According to Baba Saheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, education is :-
“Education is the milk of the lioness, whoever drinks it, holds the floor”.
“A pen has more power than a thousand swords”.
“The ultimate aim of human life should be the development of intelligence”.
According to “Martin Luther King, Jr. – The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – this is the goal of true education.
TYPES OF EDUCATION
Early Childhood Education
Education designed to support early development in preparation for participation in school and society. The programmes are designed for children below the age of 3. This is ISCED level 01. Preschools provide education from ages approximately three to seven, depending on the country when children enter primary education. The children now readily interact with their peers and the educator. These are also known as nursery schools and as kindergarten, except in the US, where the term kindergarten refers to the earliest levels of primary education. Kindergarten “provides a child-centred, preschool curriculum for three- to seven-year-old children that aim[s] at unfolding the child’s physical, intellectual, and moral nature with balanced emphasis on each of them.
Primary Education
This is ISCED level 1.[16] Primary (or elementary) education consists of the first four to seven years of formal, structured education. They are typically designed to provide young children with functional literacy and numeracy skills and to is guaranteed, solid foundation for most areas of knowledge and personal and social development to support the transition to secondary school.[20] In general, primary education consists of six to eight years of schooling starting at the age of five to seven, although this varies between, and sometimes within, countries.
In India, for example, compulsory education spans over twelve years, with eight years of elementary education, five years of primary schooling and three years of upper primary schooling. Various states in the republic of India provide 12 years of compulsory school education based on a national curriculum framework designed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training.
Secondary Education
This covers the two ISCED levels, ISCED 2: Lower Secondary Education and ISCED 3: Upper Secondary Education.
In most contemporary educational systems of the world, secondary education comprises the formal education that occurs during adolescence. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, primary and secondary education together are sometimes referred to as K-12 education, and in New Zealand Year 1–13 is used. The purpose of secondary education can be to give common knowledge, to prepare for higher education, or to train directly in a profession
Depending on the system, schools for this period, or a part of it, maybe called secondary or high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, middle schools, colleges, or vocational schools. The exact meaning of any of these terms varies from one system to another. The exact boundary between primary and secondary education also varies from country to country and even within them but is generally around the seventh to the tenth year of schooling.
Higher Education or University Education
Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage, or postsecondary education, is the non-compulsory educational level that follows the completion of a school such as a high school or secondary school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities mainly provide tertiary education. Collectively, these are sometimes known as tertiary institutions. Individuals who complete tertiary education generally receive certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.
The ISCED distinguishes 4 levels of tertiary education. ISCED 6 is equivalent to a first degree, ISCED 7 is equivalent to a masters or an advanced professional qualification and ISCED 8 is an advanced research qualification, usually concluding with the submission and defence of a substantive dissertation of publishable quality based on original research.[22] The category ISCED 5 is reserved for short-cycle courses of requiring degree level study.
Higher education typically involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. In most developed countries, a high proportion of the population (up to 50%) now enter higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.
University education includes teaching, research, and social services activities, and it includes both the undergraduate level (sometimes referred to as tertiary education) and the graduate (or postgraduate) level (sometimes referred to as graduate school). Some universities are composed of several colleges.
One type of university education is a liberal arts education, which can be defined as a “college or university curriculum aimed at imparting broad general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities, in contrast to a professional, vocational, or technical curriculum. Although what is known today as liberal arts education began in Europe, the term “liberal arts college” is more commonly associated with institutions in the United States such as Williams College or Barnard College.
Vocational Education
Vocational education is a form of education focused on direct and practical training for a specific trade or craft. Vocational education may come in the form of an apprenticeship or internship as well as institutions teaching courses such as carpentry, agriculture, engineering, medicine, architecture and the arts.[citation needed] Post 16 education, adult education and further education involve continued study, but a level no different from that found at upper secondary, and are grouped together as ISCED 4, post-secondary non-tertiary education.
The world is changing at an ever quickening rate, which means that a lot of knowledge becomes obsolete and inaccurate more quickly. The emphasis is therefore shifting to teaching the skills of learning: to picking up new knowledge quickly and in as agile a way as possible. Finnish schools have even begun to move away from the regular subject-focused curricula, introducing instead developments like phenomenon-based learning, where students study concepts like climate change instead. There are also active educational interventions to implement programs and paths specific to non-traditional students, such as first generation students.
Education is also becoming a commodity no longer reserved for children. Adults need it too.Some governmental bodies, like the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra in Finland, have even proposed compulsory lifelong education.