THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EDUCATION: What has education done for you?

Today, January 24th is the International Day of Education as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in celebration of the role of education in peace and development. CEDEC International Schools celebrated this day to emphasise the role that education plays in building a sustainable society. 

Our opinion boxes were tagged with the theme: "What has education done for you"? 

These boxes were placed all around the campus, and some submissions were pasted on the board seen below:

To see more of how we marked the day, please keep reading.

At the Lekki campus, two talk sessions facilitated by some student volunteers held in the primary school and the secondary school respectively. These sessions which were divided into 4 basic parts were focused on issues that affect the average Nigerian child. The topics were:

•  The role of education in improving Health outcomes
•  The role of education in gender equality
•  The role of education in poverty reduction
•  The role of education in peacekeeping

All student volunteers were awarded with certificates of appreciation.

Let's take a closer look at these topics, shall we?

The role of Education in Gender Equality

Statistics show that an additional school year can increase a woman's earnings by 10% to 20%. Education reveals women's social and legal rights, and ensures these rights are accessible to women. Education has paved a way for women and girls to be able to prove themselves and thrive in the area of Science and Technology, Sports, Drama and Arts, Literature, thus enabling them break world records.

The role of education in improving Health outcomes

· With education came the awareness of a healthy diet, identification of clean water, access to health care even in cases of emergency, and the end to harmful practices such as the killing of twins and female genital mutilation, among others.

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The role of Education in Poverty Reduction

Education when combined with skills could alleviate poverty. As the saying "Knowledge is Power" goes, education brings knowledge and subsequently power to enhance skills and create wealth. 

The role of Education in peace keeping

The HumanRights conventions declare: “Education must prepare a child for responsible life and effective participation in a free society in a spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes and friendships among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin.” 

This tells us that a child can emulate empathy, compassion and tolerance towards people with different belief systems from them. Thus they would be less inclined to see violence as a solution to diversity.

We had a good laugh, and then discussed some heroes of education. 

These heroes are people who in spite of the odds excelled in education, and went on to become Nobel Prize winners, Surgeons, Authors etc.

How many heroes of education do you know? Feel free to share their names, and achievements in the comments section below.