Education gives us many options

Education has been an important aspect of our lives since time immemorial. Our forefathers used to educate their generations on various topics concerning the way of living in our societies. They taught people informally and with this knowledge they learnt how to do their daily chores like hunting, cooking and many other duties. Our great ancestors also taught their generations on mannerisms and things that were considered as a taboo to the society. To them, whoever did not adhere to their rules and regulations was severely punished according to the set rules and regulations which were not even written down but passed verbally from one generation to another.However in the modern world, the delivery of knowledge has undergone tremendous changes. Teachers now use technology at their disposal to have effective lessons and use written rules and regulations to dispense punishment to their students. Whether one uses the formal or informal set up of education, one thing stands out for sure and that is, education gives us so many options in life.With education, someone can do so many things that will ease and make his life better. My good business teacher once told me that education is the knowledge that is left in you once you complete your studies. He argued that if you cannot solve your problems with the knowledge learnt from school, then you have embarrassed the institution of education.The Japanese have a saying that, “The mind is not an empty vessel to be filled but a fire to be ignited,’’ and therefore we should learn that being in school is not just to acquire knowledge but be able to use it to its potential and thus reason well, make good decisions and solve problems amicably. This is the reason why in examinations, we have question terminologies like How, Solve, Evaluate, Discuss, Deduce, Elaborate etc. These kinds of terms help us to find a way to tackling difficult tasks and this also applies to real life situations.Education also helps enables us sell our skills and can therefore get paid jobs or employ ourselves in business doing consultancy work or trading in an area of interest to us. We therefore become creative in coming up with ideas that will benefit the society. The Wright brothers identified an opportunity in creating an aircraft at a time when no one could believe that a human being could travel on air and abuse Isaac Newton’s law of gravity. Later on more inventions came to be discovered e.g. Facebook, M-pesa (Mobile Money) and N-soko just to be mention but a few.Another option that we get from education is the ability to build networks and relationships which are very important for a wholesome individual. The friends we study with end up being professionals in various fields and can help us identifying opportunities in the market. We can also make investment clubs and share ideas with them. Network from friends and colleagues has enabled people land good jobs, business ventures and even successful marriages.As students learn in and out of class, they need to take interest in understanding what they are taught so that they can be able to solve complex issues in the society. They need to endeavour to work hard and internalise knowledge learnt from their teachers so that they can disapprove the common saying that, “You can remove a person from the village but not the village in that person.The writer is a teacher at Riviera High School