Education is the Premise of Progress

Kofi Annan the seventh Secretary General of the United Nations once said that “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” I find this quote extremely thought-provoking and so very true. No need to say here that I am proud of this man not only because he comes from Ghana but most especially because of what he believes in. Education is the basic of development in any society and at all levels. Education no matter the format it takes is an important ingredient in empowering people and developing countries. Education is a basic human right and is vital for the realization of other human rights in accessing broader cultural, social, political and economic benefits. Education is so much needed especially in our dear continent that when I decided to become a trainer twelve years ago; I knew I would have the best job ever. I knew I could impact on people’s minds, skills and lives. Your columnist can not describe the sparkle she sees in people eyes after going through her training sessions. And this is probably the main reason behind doing The ServiceMag. For those who do not know, The ServiceMag is a free educational quarterly magazine in English, French and Kinyarwanda distributed among the whole business community in Kigali and in all districts of Rwanda. Its main focus is to educate and sensitize people on several issues that can help them become more professional and boost their performance. The topics covered in the magazine range from Customer Service to Human Resources, Quality, Health, Legal, Finance, Motivation and Personnel development, Sales and Marketing, Environment Protection and many more. The magazine can also be read online on www.theservicemag.com. When all the 192 United Nations member states and international organizations agreed to achieve by the year 2015 the eight international development goals (Millennium Development Goals, MDGs) ; this required a central focus of both individual and collective efforts. There is no way we can eradicate extreme poverty, reduce child mortality rates, and fight epidemics such as AIDS or Malaria, ensuring environmental sustainability without education and sensitization. There is so much to know. Access to information is capital for all. Knowledge is a requisite to performance. There are so many important educational materials the public needs to know of. If we knew 1percent of what we are supposed to know, we would reach a higher level of development; especially as Africans. Unfortunately in this part of the world where reading is not part of our culture, efforts need to be done in helping people getting the basics information they need. We at The ServiceMag for instance have decided to make our magazine very attractive with many photos and simple interesting articles so that people will get “hooked” and get the interest in reading. The next ServiceMag will be out on December 9th. Education enables people to break out of the poverty trap. It enhances the quality of life and the performance of businesses for people and their community. Building capacity, conducting vocational training and facilitating adult education programs will help boost our economy. Your columnist is taking this opportunity to call upon government, diplomatic missions, public and private institutions to help maintain this magazine by contributing with educative articles and by sponsoring it so that more people could have access to it. Let’s just remember that “Knowledge is Power” The author is a trainer and the Publisher of The ServiceMag sidossou@theservicemag.com