The Importance of the Art of Education

By Godfrey Omondi. Godrey is a 22 - year - old teacher and lives in Mombasa, Kenya

“The arts are of incalculable worth in what it means to be a human being.” Philip Pullman

Education can be understood as the art of imparting knowledge, ideas, skills and judgment of facts that have been learnt either formally or informally. This art is of incalculable worth in what it means to be a human being. The one main object of education, is to leave a man or woman in the condition of continually asking questions, which have led to living in a better world.

This art of education has brought technology, which is all about techniques. Through the development of technology, we have the fastest and most convenient form of communication. Technology has brought us communication devices like cell phones, tablets, computers and laptops, among others, and mostly the platform of social media through the use of internet. The internet is also being use for E-Learning without someone physical present in the classroom. Humans use television to stay updated on what’s happening across the whole world. Sport fans can easily follow or watch their beloved games live, just how my dad watches and follows every game that his favourite club, Arsenal, plays. In fact, technology has made the globe like one small village, where we become closer and educate each other.

The art of education has done a lot in industrial development in the world. Humans use machines to make work easy and complete a specific task within a short period of time. There are tractors for preparing land for planting, cultivation and harvesting. Education has brought about the knowledge of how to carry out irrigation in arid and semi-arid areas, where farmers can plant, produce, manufacture and sell their products to earn money to improve their living standards each and every day.

Development of infrastructure has been brought about by knowledge and education. Developments in transport is notable such as: roads and super highways with their fancy vehicles passing on them, railway lines with subway trains and trains which is preferred for transporting bulk goods, airports with their jets, helicopters and airplanes, which is the quickest means of transport, and its mostly preferred for transporting perishable goods. There is use of water transportation by using ferries ships, used in transporting bulk goods along the shores of oceans between far countries. All these have brought a new simplicity to human life.

Through this art of education, people are able to understand the geographical area they live in better, in the study of geography. Humans have knowledge of the formation of mountains, about the rivers, salty and fresh lakes, seas, oceans and other physical features in the local area and around the world. For me, information is such a big part of my life, that without information, even a really clever person cannot get started. With information and technology, a much less clever person can go much further.

The art of education has enabled humans to learn how to transform energy from one form to the another. Obtaining electricity from the sunlight through solar panels and the making of biogas to be used in cooking are two examples. Humans have learnt how to convert lightning to a useful energy. We can now convert energy from kinetic, water, wind, underground hot steams or springs to create electricity which is very important in human life today.

This art of education has made quite a development in the housing industry; we now live in better and more modern houses. There are so many captivating high rise buildings across the world and I really admire the art of architecture and its architects.

The art has brought a lot of light to the world of medicine and medical treatment. This is all come from the study of science. We humans have the idea of various diseases and their medicines, animals and their genetics, viruses, bacteria, various plants and animal species among others. There are highly modern developments in hospitals; operations are now more advanced and are carried out successfully, such as caesarean to deliver complicated births and incubators for growth of premature babies. There are also cancer machines for screening and detecting the disease for earlier detection to prevent from spreading to a larger percentage of the body.

Actually, the aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts but of values and these are what make the earth a better place.

Sir Bryan Nicholson once said “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Remember the art of education is the key to development, as the motto of my high school reads. Through this art is easy and simple to follow, it is difficult to drive, easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.

Let’s all come together as one and embrace this art of education with both hands from all angles, because the aim of education is the formation of character which makes us all human beings.

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