What Are the Functions of Education Towards Individual

What are the functions of education towards individual, society and country? Education is essential for every society and individual. It is life itself but not a preparation for life. Man has various qualities. These qualities of the individual should be developed for the improvement of the country. So education plays a complementary role for overall individual, social and national development. It enables an individual to realize his highest self and goal. The key functions and roles of education towards individual, society and country are listed below. Functions of education towards individual: (1) Development of inborn potentialities- Education helps the child to develop the inborn potentialities of child providing scope to develop. (2) Modifying behavior- Education helps to modify the past behavior through learning and through different agencies of education. (3) All-round development- Education aims at the 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) Developing personality- The whole personality of the child is developed physically, intellectually, morally, socially, aesthetically and spiritually. He is recognized in the society. (6) Helping for adjustability- Man differs from beast. Man has reasoning and thinking power. Man tries his best to adjust with his own environment through education. Functions of education towards society: (1) Social change and control: The society is never station. It is progressive and dynamic. The child lives in society. It is the social environment where the personality of the child can be developed. The old traditions, customs are preserved and transmitted with the situations, which are ever changing. We should not think or believe in the blind beliefs, which are hindrances towards our development. Education helps to walk with the development of science and technology. (2) Reconstruction of experiences: Education is life-long process. Life is education and education is life. Life is full of experiences. One cannot live with his past experiences which are unable to adjust in the society. So education helps the individual to reconstruct the experience and adjust with the environment.

(3) Development of social and moral value: Society is always in tension with narrowism. There is no social or moral value. Now the man is behaving like an animal. Animality can be changed with moral education. Education teaches the moral value and social value like co-operation, tolerance, sympathy, fellow feelings, love affection, respect towards elder, helping the poor and needy persons. (4) Providing opportunity or equality: Indian Constitution has introduced the term „equality‟ because we are not getting equal opportunities in all aspects. Education teaches us to give equal opportunities in all aspects irrespective of caste, creed, color, sex and religion. Functions of education towards nation: (1) Inculcation of civic and social responsibility- Education helps to make rising generation to understand its rights and duties as citizens of a democratic country. (2) Training for leadership- The leadership quality of the individual is developed when he participates in all spheres of social, political, religious and educational activities. (3) National integration- We are living in one country having diversities in respect of color, caste, language, diet, dress, habits and physical environment. Educational integration leads to emotional integration. Education trains people for unity, not for locality, for democracy and not for dictatorship. Education serves the most important end of educating the man. (4) Total national development- Education helps for bringing about total national development by developing its all aspects i.e. social, economic, cultural, spiritual, moral, educational, etc. Therefore, really education is an essential ingredient for all ages and stages of the life of an individual, society as well as the nation. Education can be a real panacea for all social evils.

THE first human development report introduced a paradigm shift in views about development in 1990 when it asserted that the “people are the real wealth of a nation”. When we say this, a fundamental point is assessing how nations treat real worth and invest in its quality. The quality of the people is the quality of the nation; the development of one is to develop the nation. What can be regarded as an effective means to develop real worth? Development is the expansion of choice, so how can choices be made more meaningful and effective? Making the right choices requires awareness of the consequences, and this requires

education. That is the only means through which people can gain the opportunity to control and direct their own development. Societal actors at all levels must be brought to understand and internalise the fact that true development is impossible without challenging and improving the quality of mindsets. It is no exaggeration to say that education and human development are interlinked and complementary; one cannot be attained without the other. An analysis of progress trends in human development indicators also identifies that these factors are interlinked through education. In a USAID-supported study of 83 developing countries (conducted from 1960 to 1970), it was found that the 12 developing countries with the fastest growth rates also had well above average levels of literacy. An increase in the literacy rate from 20 to 30 per cent is associated with a national income (GDP) increase of eight to 16 per cent. Education contributes significantly to the establishment of the socio-economic prerequisites for democracy: economic development, improved health and societal wellbeing. Thus, investment in education can tremendously influence democracy and the development of civil society. The link between education and improved human development indicators has been proved widely by a number of studies. It also increases access to social and economic opportunity, participation in political processes and promotes democratic practices of multiculturalism and pluralism — all essential ingredients in promoting human development. According to the World Bank, between 60 and 90 per cent of the growth achieved in Japan and other East Asian industrialised countries is explained by human capital rather than financial means or natural resources. An overall higher level of primary education was found to be the single most important factor accounting for the differences in growth rates between East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Studies also show that farmers and labourers with better education adjust more rapidly to technological and societal changes and are ultimately more likely to increase their productivity at the individual, communal and national levels. Economists worldwide agree that as the amount of schooling increases (especially when the workforce achieves basic education) the political power of the working class is increased. This in turns is an essential means of

realising full human potential through the expansion of choices, freedom and space. Within communities, education is a source of empowering individuals with the self-awareness and confidence needed for meaningful engagement in critical discussions. Education can be a launching pad to make people aware of their rights and what they can do to defend these rights. It is estimated that just one additional year of education can increase productivity in wage employment by 10 per cent even after factoring in other aspects. The UN‟s Human Development Report 2010 ranks Pakistan at 125 of 169 nations in its index. This country‟s experience has also shown that districts with higher literacy levels have a higher level of development. In this context, the report argues that progress in health and education can drive success in human development. The seven countries ranking highest in human development associate their achievement with their commitment to health and education. The same lesson is dictated by the countries that are right at the bottom — they lag behind in their achievements in health and education, as well as in other sectors. The World Bank report Human Development Outcomes in Pakistan argues that although the country “has made significant achievements in sustaining economic growth levels and reducing income poverty during the decades up to the mid-1990s, yet relatively little progress has been made in achieving improvements in human development outcomes. The „human development gap‟, i.e. what one might expect for the country‟s income level and what is actually observed, is large and growing. Trends in education outcomes are particularly disappointing. At the beginning of the 21st century only one in two children aged five to nine attends school, and perhaps as many as half of primary school graduates are functionally illiterate.” A paradigm shift in policy and priorities is required in Pakistan to accelerate the growth rate in human development as well as create viable space for the people in which to utilise their strengths and potentials. This requires special focus on education as the strategy to achieve sustainable human development. No doubt, a tremendous amount of commitment is required to equalise opportunities through the creation of policies, laws and procedures and create an environment for a meaningful participation at all levels.

This gigantic task cannot be undertaken in isolation; it demands partnerships between public and private actors. Contributions of the private sector in education are an important part of the service-provision landscape. Government policy acknowledges this and seeks to reach out to the private sector to form responsible public-private partnerships with the goal of increasing service provision. This goal needs to be broadened by envisioning education as a major vehicle to ensure the quality of human capital. Without education, achieving sustainable human development will remain an illusion. PAKISTAN AND EDUCATION

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country on the globe and the second largest country in South Asia with a population of 109363831.29 people living in rural areas according to the World Bank report 2012; having a literacy rate of 44 percent overall (58 percent for men and 29 percent for women). This alarming situation of literacy is a result of low financial priority to education as well as of ill-conceived policies of education, particularly in rural zones. To ensure substantial development in rural areas, during the past few decades, a range of cohesive steps have been taken at both governmental and non-governmental levels. Among them is one of the most important factors: the distance education. Distance education is referred to as an institution-based formal education where the learning group is separated and interactive telecommunication systems are used to connect learners, resources and instructors. Apart from the obvious purpose of teaching more people more effectively, distance learning systems have been used to impress donors, placate ministers, justify consultancies and even sell technologies. Many institutes in Pakistan are steadily increasing their capacity to engage in distance learning and appropriate technological innovations are being used in this context. Since 1986, the Women‟s Secondary Education Programme of Allama Iqbal Open University has been providing the rural women with courses to meet secondary school equivalency and to increase income generating opportunities through building practical skills. Pakistan Institute of Modern Study is a countrywide institute to promote distance education and give competency based, skill oriented and non-academic certification and diplomas in the field of research, management, computer, information technology, technical and vocational education to assist under privileged communities in making necessary socio-economic changes. As a matter of fact, distance education has proved as a catalyst behind rural development. The distance learning and educating models and practices must be more adapted to the social, cultural, political and economic circumstances of the learners and their environment. It is also worth suggesting that there must be an integration of gender analysis into the planning and implementations of distant learning initiatives.

In spite of the constant mushrooming of private schools in every nook and corner of Lahore, the overwhelming majority of children in the city actually go to public schools. Most of them drop out by the time they reach fifth grade. Given that quality primary education actually yields the highest socio-economic return to the population, this is especially tragic.

Pakistan is on the verge of a youth bulge in its population, with more than 50 per cent of the population in Pakistan under 20 years of age. When these young individuals enter the job market without an education or the necessary skills for gainful employment, we are bound to have a major catastrophe on our hands. Public schools are in dire straits: they have crumbling infrastructure untrained teachers and inadequate resources and thus cannot meet even the most basic needs of the children. What has the government done about it? Well, the government employs an army of officials working with a creaky system to transform the failing education system. Every primary and middle public school in Lahore is tightly-controlled by officials of the Education Department working from a decrepit building on Hall Road. The government annually assigns funds to each primary school for maintenance and repair and other small-scale projects — play grounds, furniture, etc. — to deal with the crumbling infrastructure. The other source of funds for a school is the tuition fee — a meagre Rs20 — collected from the students every month, which is spent on paying utility bills and stationery items. The head teacher of every school is responsible for maintaining these accounts on raggedy registers. The school is also supervised by the school council — a committee comprising the head teachers, a few parents and members of the local community. The school council has been set up to sanction the utilisation of the funds dispersed by the government. To ensure the correct distribution of funds, the Auditor General‟s Office sends its auditors to the schools. Even though it might seem fine in principle, the system is highly anachronistic and has been working like this for the past 64 years, with some minor changes introduced by previous governments in their vain attempts to reform the system. In reality, though, the Education Department is over-staffed, corrupt, and inefficient; its behemoth bureaucracy prevents imparting quality education in our public schools. After spending a year touring the schools and the education department and talking to the people pulling all the levers, here‟s how I view the system. The head teachers of nearly all the primary schools I have visited spend more time making rounds of the offices of the District Officers — their immediate supervisors — than actually teaching any classes. Other teachers are left to their own devices; those who are punctual firmly believe in using severe forms of corporal punishment to keep their students in line and rarely ever adhere to their job description. In most schools, the school council rarely ever meets. In case of repair work, the head teacher has to write letters to the education department, which is already piled ceiling-high with files. Further still, the head teacher is supervised by a long hierarchy of officials at the education department, beginning with the assistant education officers and ending with the executive district officer. Each of these officials is also assigned a legion of secretarial staff, whose job

is to fetch tea, push files and occasionally become a victim of public scolding from their government officials so that they may appear more authoritative in front of visitors. The school council funds are roughly Rs35,000 a year, and head teachers typically have to bribe the local official in the education department to have the funds released. In the rare instance that the head teacher is actually audited, he/she can, in turn, just pay the auditors to have everything cleared. Most of the infrastructure rehabilitation work is carried out through dubious contracts between the head teachers and local contractors. And so the problematic system rolls along. There are, of course, some anomalous cases of head teachers who actually use the funds to have their schools refurbished. With the elections around the corner, the government has coughed up more funds this year compared to those allocated in preceding years. New officials have been appointed, who have taken it upon themselves to reform the system — even if it involves building playrooms to be used strictly for „display‟ purposes during official visits. Other than that, all I have witnessed is that the additional funds have been typically used to spruce up head teachers‟ offices, instead of being used for much needed repairs. On the academic side, things haven‟t changed, and probably will not for a long time to come simply because the teachers‟ union won‟t allow it. They‟d rather whine and protest and throw their support behind political leaders who vow to demand the least of them. I was particularly struck by the condescending tenor in which teachers explain why their students don‟t perform well — “they‟re beggars‟ children, what do you expect?” is what one of the teachers had to say about underperforming students. Life magazine has some black and white pictures of Lahore‟s public schools on its website, which date back to the time just after partition. Sadly enough, if you were to take black and white pictures of the schools today and juxtapose them to the ones by Life magazine, you won‟t be able to tell them apart.