Education Is The Key To Success

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” - Sydney J. Harrison

According to the dictionary, "Education is the process of imparting or acquiring knowledge, especially at school, college or university." It includes preparing oneself cognitively for life. A mirror can only reflect a person's image. On the other hand, a window when opened provides an infinite field of view to a person enabling him/her to see other people. This analogy describes education in effect as a socializing force that empowers learners to initiate positive changes in their societies, provide opportunities to individuals and imbibe knowledge and skills.

Ambitions start developing as soon as a child grows. The child actually starts personifying

Education not only helps people unearth and develop their innate talents, but also think critically and creatively, introspect and communicate ideational content, develop the muscles of judgement and learn new skills. By doing these, an individual's capabilities are enhanced, thereby making him able enough to take timely advantage of the numerous opportunities that life offers. Essentially, an individual who is educated to be a computer programmer, a lecturer, a doctor or an engineer has more opportunities than one would have had if left uneducated. In the same vein, I had the option of either being a software engineer or a doctor, unlike my uneducated father who could do nothing else apart from farming . Generally, education supports learners to discover and turn their inherent talents which are like mirrors, to useful skills offering many windows of opportunity to them.

Furthermore, education is the only channel for the transmission of skills and knowledge for the continuation of industrial, economic, political and social activities. For example, unless through education, an archaeologist cannot pass his knowledge to posterity. As long as the skills and knowledge of an individual are not made accessible

Education has other functions as well. For instance, one of such purposes of education is the allocation of appropriate roles every individual in a society. Hence, through education, it becomes quite clear who can best perform what. Also, education is a way of cultural production. The norms, values and the ways of doing things which form important parts of the heritage of our society are passed on from one generation to another through the process of education. Besides, education provides learners exposure to other people's cultures thereby promoting cultural assimilation. It would not have been possible to know anything about iconic people like Socrates, Aristotle, Lee Kwan Yew, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela, if I were not educated, taught and exposed to their lives. Yet, all their stories have impacted my life and the community at large. Thus education creates cultures by acting as a pathway for both cultural transfer and cultural