Sai School Poster and Essay Competition Winners

‘Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world.’ How far do you agree?

By Mukund SONI 11U2

Humans have always dreamt of changing the world and making it a better place – indeed, we have largely succeeded in doing so over the last few centuries. Life expectancy has risen substantially from only 35 years in 1800 to 80 today, and subsequently, the average standard of life is substantially greater than in the past. Education, now compulsory in all but five countries around the world, has undeniably played a crucial role in this, and may be our most powerful weapon in changing the world ahead.

But before discussing the degree of utility that education provides the world, it is essential that we define it. For the sake of argument, let education be ‘the process by which knowledge is systematically transferred from one individual to another’.

Then the greatest benefit of education is the spread of knowledge. This gives a population the skills required to understand the world around them, to form an opinion about a matter and to develop their own perspective. Bombarding individuals with information is futile unless they are able to interpret it and apply it correctly, and for this, education is paramount. This provides numerous benefits that can change the world. It can improve health situations as the understanding of the transmission of diseases will reduce their spread. It could help combat climate change as a greater proportion of the population understands the urgency of the situation. It could increase awareness of a number of issues, ranging from consumerism to gender inequality, that all have the potential to change the world.

Furthermore, the development of perspective also means that education allows individuals to not only understand what is already known, but to think in innovative ways and make discoveries that can have a tremendous impact on the world. Take for example the case of Edward Jenner, the individual who invented the world’s first vaccine in 1796, after having studied the process of experimentation at John Hunter’s practice in his twenties. Today, he is credited to have saved more lives with his work than any other human. In this manner, education truly is a powerful weapon which can be used to change the world.

Conversely, it can be argued that the extent of power that education has is greatly limited by other factors, such as the government and social norms. If it is socially accepted that, for example, there is nothing to be discovered and the government restricts education to just the passage of current knowledge through methods such as rote learning, then education may provide very limited power to individuals. Indeed, this was a key feature of the Late Medieval Period, where scholars would be arrested if they questioned existing knowledge, and thus there was very limited development at that time. The scale of progress we have seen in the last few centuries may instead have been due to the government driving innovation and society valuing development, increasing the impact of education. Thus, education alone may not be such a powerful weapon to change the world.

Another way in which education can change the world is by the effect it has on society. Education is instrumental in the development of our values and virtues, cultivating us into mature individuals that are capable of taking informed decisions in our lives. This provides countless benefits. For example, research has proven that educated people are more likely to volunteer and donate to charitable causes. Moreover, as the great French poet Victor Hugo once said, ‘He who opens a school door, closes a prison’, with 70% of prison inmates being illiterate. Furthermore, education equips individuals with the expertise required to progress their career and lead more financially stable lives, whilst also creating a sense of purpose. This can help alleviate poverty, and impact of monumental significance, and acts as a stimulus to higher economic growth due to a larger, more productive labour force, which can have a considerable impact on standards of living.

the transfer of knowledge is perhaps the most valuable commodity on can ever gain- it gives you the tools to interpret the world around you, to discover something new, to help other, and most importantly, to change the world. Although the government and societal norms may have a large role in restricting power of education, they remain incapable of reining it in for long. As a matter of fact, university students tend to be the most active group to protest against oppressive governments. All in all, it would be appropriate to say that education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.