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ESSAY OF THE WEEK |
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Question
"The greatest right a society can bestow upon its people is the right to an education."
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
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| RITESH SHARMA: 2/16/2010 |
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I agree with the statement above as it is rightly said if anything society can give is right to an education. |
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Reference Essay |
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The question of education as a right is thorny. The notion of universal education is a relatively new development. Education is not supplied universally in all countries, sometimes with good reason.
Universal education can be costly and may not produce broad social benefit. Providing universal education imposes a huge cost burden on a government. This burden may not be sustainable if the uneducated population is large. In countries that are extremely overcrowded, universal education may provide excellent training for the society as a whole, but if economic opportunities are not readily available to the populace, universal education may be wasted.
Education is one tool that society has, but it is not the cure-all. Many societies would benefit from universal education, but with universal education comes political unrest that countries may not be prepared for. To offer education as a right, a government must either be very secure in its standing with its people, or must be prepared for the consequences associated with a generally educated population if other social and economic opportunities are not readily available.
The characterization of education as a right implies that governments always operate with the best interest of their people in mind. While this is certainly the ideal, sadly it is not always the case. Education as a right will only develop if compatible economic and social opportunities also develop.
The cost of universal education, along with the fact that social benefit is not always guaranteed make it difficult to categorize education as a right. The greatest capital a society possesses is its people, but sadly, not every society is able to invest in its people wisely.
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