WHAT EDUCATION MEANS TO YOU AND WHY ?

Education means freedom. It gives us the freedom of choice and career- the freedom to do what we want. This is because education builds understanding. Through education, we create an identity for ourselves, while valuing the diversity of others.

Many people believe that education is what we learn from schools and universities. But I believe that education is much broader than the learning attained from these formal institutions. I come from the Maldives, where fisheries is a significant part of our lives.

In the past, fishermen relied on the knowledge gained from experience, and though they were highly skilled, with expert knowledge of the seas, the lack of technology created limits on their trade. The industry dwindled. Today, through combining this knowledge with the learning acquired from formal institutions, the industry has flourished, with school-educated young people joining the trade. Their learning at school combined with the skills obtained from expert fishermen in the community have fueled their understanding of their trade, and recreated a new identity for and appreciation of fishermen in today’s society.

Education freed the barriers that existed before and allowed new understandings to emerge. Education, therefore, is the ticket to the future.