The first time we are introduced to formal education is in school. The school years are the grounding years of one's education. Schools are institutions that lay the foundation of a child's development.

They play a key role in developing children into responsible citizens and good human beings. It’s a school where young talent is recognised and nurtured. On leaving school, we are all set to soar high in life, and enter the real world in pursuit of our dreams.

Education provides us with knowledge about the world. It paves the way for a good career. It helps build character. It leads to enlightenment. It lays the foundation of a stronger nation.

Education makes a man complete. Education enriches people’s understanding. Education is an investment in human capital, and it can have a great impact on a nation’s growth and development.

So, why send children to school?

a) To get knowledge

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” A direct effect of education is knowledge gain. Education gives us knowledge of the world around. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life. It helps us form opinions and develop a point of view.

The information we are constantly bombarded with, cannot be converted into knowledge without the catalyst called education.

Education makes us capable of interpreting things rightly and applying the gathered information in real life scenarios. Education is not limited to lessons from textbooks. Real education is obtained from the lessons taught by life. Therefore send your child to school.

b) To help our children develop career progression

"An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less.” Education is important because it equips us with the expertise that is needed in helping us realise our career goals.

Expertise is an in-depth knowledge about a specific field and it’s ought to open doors to brilliant career opportunities. Education fetches better prospects of career growth.

Good education is an eligibility criterion for employment in any sector of the industry. Be it any field, education always proves to be rewarding. We are weighed in the market on the basis of our educational skills and on how well we can apply them.

c) It builds character

"A man’s own manner and character is what most becomes him.” The words ‘cultivate’ and ‘civilise’ are synonymous with ‘educate’. That says it all. Education is important as it teaches us the right behaviour and good manners, thus making us civilized. It is the basis of culture and civilisation. It is instrumental in the development of our values and virtues.

Education cultivates us into mature individuals; individuals capable of planning for the future, and taking the right decisions in life. It gives us an insight into living, and teaches us to learn from experience. It makes us self-confident, and develops our abilities to think, analyse, and judge. It fosters principles of equality and socialism. It forms a support system for one to excel in life. It is the backbone of society. It won’t be wrong to say that good education makes us more human.

d) It leads to enlightenment

"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel". Education paves the path to disillusionment. It wipes out the wrong beliefs from our minds. It helps create a clear picture of things around, and erases all the confusion.

It kindles the flame of curiosity and helps awaken the abilities to question, and to reason. The more we learn, the more questions we have, and without questions, there are no answers. Education teaches us to find answers. It makes us more self-aware. It leads us to enlightenment.

e) It helps a nation progress

"Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.” Though not enlisted as one of the three basic human needs, education is equally important.

For the progress of a nation, for the enrichment of society in general, education is important. A country’s literate population is its asset. In today’s competitive world, it won’t be wise to neglect the importance of education for the development of society as a whole.

Most countries have realised this. It has led to the development of many government-aided educational programmes and government grants to schools and colleges. The motive behind this is fostering education in society. The future of a nation is safe in the hands of the educated. Education is important for the social development and economic growth of a nation.

Schools and other educational institutes define the basic framework of education. Schooling gives us the fundamentals. We specialise in fields of our interest during degree courses. The number of institutes offering vocational courses and those offering online education is increasing by the day. Vocational courses help earn specialised education.

Conclusion

The benefits of education delay. What each of you learns at a given time becomes useful to him or her much later in life. What you may have learnt at your university or college may be meaningful now. It is therefore important for both teachers, and governments to structure good programmes that will benefit the citizens in future.

We as parents trust that the government is good enough to manage its citizens since the quality of a country can be assessed by looking at the quality of education it offers to its citizens.

The writer is a lecturer at Kigali Institute of Management.