Improved Essay

Education

I was on the busy roads of Coastal when a street child knocked on our car’s window and begged for coins. To my surprise, my 7 - year old cousin asked me, “Why do we have to go to school and he doesn’t? “ I was shocked and couldn’t help but wonder on how this kid came to that kind of question. For a couple of seconds, I thought of making a simple answer like “We have to go to school for us to have a good future“. Until now I don’t know if he understood what I said.

Education plays important roles in people’s lives. It is the ultimate road to success. In Encyclopedia Americana, Education is a process, either formal or informal, by which an individual gains knowledge. It aims to develop intellectual abilities, values and sensory motor skills. A formal learning process can be made possible by a teacher, priest or adult family members like parents. A teacher uses lesson plans, learning devices such as videos, audiovisuals, books and the like in transmitting knowledge to students. While one learns from a priest through listening to mass sermons and any form of preaching. However, parents are given responsibilities to teach their children at home. For instance, Informal learning process occurs through the used of books, magazines and technological devices such as computer, radio, television etc. For cultural purposes, values are preserved and maintained. Knowledge acquired from the past are transferred to every new generation. According to www.babeled.com, Education came from the Latin word “educare” – a combination of the word ex and ducere. “Ex” is a Latin preposition that means “from with in”. In the everyday communication “e” was used instead of “ex”. For the Romans, they put the “e” in front of words to change the meaning. While “ducere” means to draw out from with in. When “ex” was prefixed to “ducere”, “-ere” changes to “-are” and that leads to the formation of “educare”.

Several systems of formal education were stated in www.wikipedia.org such as primary education, secondary education, higher education, adult education, and alternative education. To start with, primary education is also known as elementary education that occurs at the age of 5 or 6. Primary schools are institutions that provide primary education and are divided into infant schools and junior schools. It is the first stage to mandatory education and comes after pre-school education. Primary education aims to develop basic literary and numerical skills of students and would prepare them for secondary education. In the Philippines, elementary education curriculum is from grade one until grade six. Though, there are some schools that reach up to grade seven or eight. Afterwards, when primary education is completed, secondary education or high school education follows. It is the last stage of mandatory education and occurs during adolescence period. It is meant to give knowledge and prepare students for higher education like college. In the US, secondary education is consist of grade nine until twelve. However, in the Philippines, it is first year through fourth year. After High school, one has an option to pursue college education based on financial capability and interest to become a professional. College education is also known as higher education. It includes undergraduate and post graduate degree programs and are provided by universities and colleges. These programs involve different fields of engineering, liberal arts, sciences, education, business, law, music or computer studies. In the Philippines, college education is the key to the formation of competent and efficient citizens. Additionally, adult education is the process of educating adults. It is voluntary and very much differ from educating children. Adults have already acquired knowledge that improves their learning experience. This course may be offered at folk high schools or other learning centers. In the Philippines, it is composed of programs that are focused on socio – economic and citizenship training. Lastly, is the alternative education or non-traditional education that includes charter schools, home-based learning and emphasize a small class population. Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is a program in the Philippines that gives trainings for citizens who wants to be skilled in vocational and technical courses.


In the Philippines, education is deviced after the American system and the medium of instruction is English. Schools run by the governmet are called public schools while a non – government is called private schools. The Philippines has indeed a high standard when it comes to education. They had produce millions of competitive, world class professionals. In various countries like USA, Saudi Arabia, Australia, they are mostly hiring Filipina nurses. They truly believed on the ability of the Filipinos. Philippine education is truly remarkable. They have produce world class universities such as the big four, University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University Manila, University of Sto. Thomas.

Education is vital in the human society. It is a way of shaping one’s future. The lack of quality education is one of the factors to why global financial crisis and other economical problems arises. A nation needs education if they aim to achieve growth for their country. Nowadays, if one is to find a job, the one thing that employees look for is the educational background of the applicant. In this case, an uneducated person has less chances of getting a good or high-paying job. That is how important education is to people. As Maulana Khan said, a person is not in his proper sensation if he is uneducated. It is through education that a man is able to acquire knowledge and learns things that helps and improves the way he copes with his environment. Without education, a man is stuck in a room where he can’t open the door towards the outside world. To sum up, education is the key to making this world a better place. So whatever it takes, one must learn, strive hard for the best of his future.

Sources:
Education. In the Encyclopedia Americana ( Vol. 9, pp. 643 ). USA: Grolier Incorporated
Khan, M.W. The Importance of Education. Retrieved August 13, 2009, from http://www.alrisala.org/
Education. Retrieved August 11, 2009, from http://wikipedia.com/
Word Power: Education. Retrieved August 11, 2009, from http://www.babeled.com/
Primary Education. Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http://wikipedia.com/
Secondary Education. Retrieved August 13, 2009, from http://wikipedia.com/
Adult Education. Retrieved August 14, 2009, from http://wikipedia.com/
Alternative Education. Retrieved August 14, 2009, from http://wikipedia.com/
Education. Retrieved August 30, 2009, from http://pinas.dlsu.edu.ph/gov/