EDUC 5010-01 Discussion Assignment Unit 1

Education is the process where someone receives or imparts basic knowledge to another.

The greatest goal of education is to enable an individual to navigate life and contribute to society

once they become older (Reimers, 2017). Simply put, education helps students acquire

knowledge and skills that will allow them to become successful members of the community and

grow into good and accomplished individuals. Building good relationships between learners,

educators, and parents is necessary to materialize this idea (Walker, 2016). Thanks to the

influence of their environment, learners gain the opportunity to grow their full potential talents

and reach their life goals. There are different kinds of education, but typically, traditional

schooling dictates how one’s education success is estimated. Individuals who attended school

and acquired a higher level of education are deemed more employable and likely to earn more

(Robinson, 2022).

In developing, low-income nations like Eritrea (the country where I was Born), for

instance, there is a projected 10 percent increase in an individual’s future income for every

additional year of education. Education assists in eradicating poverty and hunger, providing

people with an opportunity to improve their lives. This is one of the biggest reasons why parents

seek to make their children attend school as long as possible. It is also why countries work

toward facilitating easier access to education for children and adults (Woldemikael, 2003).

Before the Italian colony (1889), Eritrean conventional education was given by priests

and sheiks. Its aim was to conserve spiritual, moral, and cultural norms and values as well as

customary gender roles (Mengesha & Tessema, 2019). Education was provided at temples,

monasteries, and mosques. During this time, children were apprenticed in a way that equipped

them to follow the paths of their parents and religious leaders so that they could be “good” wives
and mothers or “good” husbands and fathers dedicated to their faiths and religions

(Woldemikael, 2003).

The present educational system in Eritrea underlines the role of education in nation-

building. It is linked to the policies, visions, and practices like the principles of social justice,

self-reliance, and other values that were developed during the war for independence (Mengesha

& Tessema, 2019). Making intelligent and adequate investments in people’s education is

essential for extending the human capital that will end extreme poverty. At the core of this

approach is the necessity to tackle the learning crisis, put an end to Learning Poverty, and

support youth in acquiring the advanced cognitive, socioemotional, technical, and digital skills

they require to succeed in today’s world (Walker, 2016).

References
Mengesha, T. S., & Tessema, M. T. (2019). Eritrean education system: A critical analysis and

future research directions. International Journal of Education, 11(1), 1.

https://doi.org/10.5296/ije.v11i1.14471

Robinson, K. (2022, March 2). What is education for? Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-education/

Reimers, F. (2017, August 03). Rediscovering the cosmopolitan moral purpose of education.

BROOKINGS. https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/rediscovering-the-cosmopolitan-

moral-purpose-of-education/

Walker, T. (2016, August 29). What’s the Purpose of Education? The public doesn’t agree on the

answer. NEA News. http://neatoday.org/2016/08/29/the-purpose-of-education-pdk-poll/

Woldemikael, T. M. (2003). Language, education, and public policy in Eritrea. African Studies

Review, 46(1), 117. https://doi.org/10.2307/1514983