Education is the
process of facilitating learning, or the
acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Educational
methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of
educators, but learners may also educate themselves. Education can take place in formal or informal settings and any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks,
feels, or acts may be considered educational. The methodology of teaching is
called pedagogy.
A right to education has been recognized by some governments, including at
the global level: Article 13 of the United Nations' 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights recognizes a universal right to education. In
most regions education is compulsory up to a
certain age.
Education began in prehistory, as adults
trained the young in the knowledge and skills deemed necessary in their society.
In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation.
Story-telling passed knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to the
next. As cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond skills that could be readily learned through
imitation, formal education developed. Schools existed in Egypt at the time of
the Middle Kingdom.
In most countries today, full-time education,
whether at school or otherwise, is
compulsory for all children up to a certain age. Due to this the proliferation
of compulsory education, combined with population growth, UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more
people will receive formal education than in all of human history thus far.
Primary:-
Primary (or elementary) education consists of
the first five to seven years of formal, structured education. In general,
primary education consists of six to eight years of schooling starting at the
age of five or six, although this varies between, and sometimes within,
countries. Globally, around 89% of children aged six to twelve are enrolled in
primary education and this proportion is rising. Under the Education
for All programs driven by UNESCO, most countries have committed to achieving universal
enrollment in primary education by 2015, and in many countries, it is
compulsory. The division between primary and secondary
education is somewhat arbitrary, but it generally
occurs at about eleven or twelve years of age. Some education systems have
separate middle schools, with the transition to
the final stage of secondary education taking place at around the age of
fourteen. Schools that provide primary education are mostly referred to as primary
schools or elementary schools. Primary schools are often
subdivided into infant schools and junior
school.
Secondary:-
In most
contemporary educational systems of the world, secondary education comprises
the formal education that occurs during adolescence. It is characterized by transition from the typically
compulsory, comprehensive primary education for minors, to the optional, selective tertiary, "post secondary", or "higher" education (e.g. university, vocational school) for adults. Depending on the system, schools for this period, or a part
of it, may be called secondary or high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, middle schools, colleges, or vocational schools. The exact meaning of any of these
terms varies from one system to another. The exact boundary between primary and
secondary education also varies from country to country and even within them,
but is generally around the seventh to the tenth year of schooling. Secondary
education occurs mainly during the teenage years. In the United States, Canada
and Australia, primary and secondary educations together are
sometimes referred to as K-12 education, and in New Zealand Year 1–13 is used. The
purpose of secondary education can be to give common
knowledge, to prepare for higher
education, or to train directly in a profession.
Higher education:-
Higher
education, also called tertiary, third stage, or post secondary education, is
the non-compulsory educational level that follows the completion of a school
such as a high school or secondary school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities mainly provide tertiary
education. Collectively, these are sometimes known as tertiary institutions.
Individuals who complete tertiary education generally receive certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.
University
education includes teaching, research, and social services activities, and it
includes both the undergraduate level (sometimes referred to as tertiary
education) and the graduate (or postgraduate) level (sometimes referred to as graduate school).
Universities are generally composed of several colleges.
Purpose of schools:-
Individual
purposes for pursuing education can vary. Understanding the goals and means of
educational socialization processes may also
differ according to the sociological paradigm used.
Some claim
that there is education inequality because children did not exceed the
education of their parents. This education inequality is then associated
with income inequality. Although critical thinking is a goal of education,
criticism and blame are often the unintended by products of our current
educational process. Students often blame their teachers and their textbooks,
despite the availability of libraries and the internet. When someone tries to
improve education, the educational establishment itself occasionally showers
the person with criticism rather than gratitude. Better by products of an
educational system would be gratitude and determination.
Developed
countries have people with more resources (housing, food, transportation, water
and sewage treatment, hospitals, health care, libraries, books, media, schools,
the internet, education, etc.) than most of the world's population. One merely
needs to see through travel or the media how many people in the undeveloped
countries live to sense this. However, one can also use economic data to gain
some insight into this. Yet criticism and blame are common among people in the
developed countries.
Open education and electronic technology:-
In 2012, the
modern use of electronic educational technology (also called e-learning) had grown at 14 times the rate
of traditional learning. Open education is fast growing to become the
dominant form of education, for many reasons such as its efficiency and results
compared to traditional methods. Cost of education has been an issue
throughout history and a major political issue in most countries today. Online
courses often can be more expensive than face-to-face classes. Out of 182
colleges surveyed in 2009 nearly half said tuition for online courses was
higher than for campus based ones. Many large university institutions are
now starting to offer free or almost free full courses such as Harvard, MIT and
Berkeley teaming up to form ed X. Other universities offering open education are Stanford,
Princeton, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Edinburgh, U. Penn, U. Michigan, U. Virginia,
U. Washington, and Cal tech. It has been called the biggest change in the way
we learn since the printing press. Despite favorable studies on effectiveness,
many people may still desire to choose traditional campus education for social
and cultural reasons.
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