Differing Perspectives

Students go through schooling for a brighter future First and foremost, education is crucial to a nation’s economy. The type of goods and services that a country produces would depend on how educated its people are.

 

Just look at technologically-advanced Japan as a fine example. Japan has one of the world's best-educated populations, with 100% enrolment in compulsory grades and 99.0% literacy rate.

 

While not compulsory, high school (koukou) enrolment is over 96% nationwide and nearly 100% in the cities. About 46% of all high school graduates go on to university or junior college. Hence, it is not difficult to see how a country that emphasizes on education would be able to produce high quality and technologically-advanced products.

 

 

Socially, education also plays in integral role in passing down of the morals and codes of conduct within the community from the old to the young. This passing down of social values is crucial to maintaining the moral fabric of which binds society together. The history of China shows us how through the teachings of Confucious and other great teachers, moral values are taught through the generations and still prevail in today’s modern society. On the other hand, in a multi-racial country like Singapore, maintaining racial harmony and cohesion is a delicate task. However, through the well-structured education system, the Singapore Government has successfully infused the right values in its people .

 

 

At an individual level, education enables one to move up the social ladder and gain greater acceptance. For many, education opens doors that are otherwise inaccessible to them.

 

 

Education in its essence comprises of two things: Passion and Pragmatism. Passion is the fuel that drives imagination and creativity, the force that pushes against convention, the doubt that causes us to seek the truth. The Wright brothers were so passionate about flying that they invented and built the world’s first airplane. They proved that human flight was possible despite criticism from naysayers. Pragmatism, in contrast to the idealism of Passion, focuses on realism and practicality. Pragmatism in education would translate to whether the skills and subjects taught are relevant and useful to the student.

 

 

Passion and pragmatism are opposing forces to each other. A good education consists of a balance between the two, however in today’s fast paced world, we feel that there is a distortion of importance and perception in this balance.

 

 

Pragmatism is seen as the favorable among the two. Take for example a business degree versus a liberal arts degree. An employer would prefer to hire someone with the business degree as the skill sets related to business would be more relevant and applicable to work.

 

 

When choosing a job or a course of study, some people make decisions entirely base on their passion. Are you one of them? However, not everyone who has the right qualifications have the right attitude for the job. It all boils down to whether you have the passion for the job or not.

 

Being pragmatic may seem the right and obvious choice when it comes to education, unfortunately, that pragmatism is not enough to sustain the job. What will keep one going on and on is the passion that one feels. With that same passion comes the right motivation to constant seek to improve oneself and to persevere till the very end no matter how long and hard the path may be.

 

 


Looking at the lives of Bruce Lee and Lance Armstrong, in their own ways, they each sacrificed what was pragmatic in the eyes of society to pursue their dreams. Dreams which would eventually take them to heights never reached by anyone before, making them the legends they are today.