Education- A human right
Our home, the brilliant Carl Sagan’s ‘pale blue dot’ is busy rotating and revolving around yours and my favorite star, and ‘BOOM!’, some human somewhere with a will to reckon with delivers his or her final blow, the dream blow, and our world is never the same. The power of the human spirit is such. The trained and aimed human spirit flourishes to a star of its own, so bright, so contagious in the skies of humanity, breathing hope and sparkling dreams to generations ahead.
Sometimes, these stars of hope trembles to life from voice waves, like when Churchill said “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”. Sometimes these stars illuminate out of ink, like when Lincoln wrote to his son’s teacher. Sometimes these stars scream to life in an invention, like when the Wright brothers flew for the first time. Even a story would do, like captain Shackleton’s. And a humane stand, like when they guaranteed that ‘education is not a privilege, it is a right!”, which is my personal favorite, to be honest. And no more beating around the bush, I’m here to spill the glory and legacy in it, in defining education, as a fundamental human right.
In the oldest days, storytelling passed the knowledge, the skills deemed necessary in society. But then came to a point where the extent of the knowledge is so vast, beyond that what could readily be learned through imitation. And that’s when formal education developed. If you were a royal kid in Egypt, at the time of the Middle Kingdom, or in Mesopotamia at its time, you could have gone to one of the first schools in known history. According to Chinese legendary accounts, Yao and Shun established the first schools. Still, you had to be some prince, an aristocrat to go to school. In ancient India, education was freely available at first, in Vedic society, but over time, became more rigid and restricted as the social systems dictated, and only those of meritorious lineage were allowed to learn the scripts. A similar thing happened in Athens. One had to be very rich to study with sophists, from whom they could learn subjects such as mathematics, geography, natural history, politics, and logic. And a quick question: Do you get the fact that you had to be someone to go to school?
Well, let’s walk some centuries ahead to the future, from the times we spoke of. Countries started making colonies. And the word ‘slave’ was born. ‘Child slavery is the enforced exploitation of a child for someone else’s gain, meaning the child will have no way to leave the situation or person exploiting them’. It’s brave of you to assume that child laborers or slaves were allowed schooling. And then there were Black-White disparity in society, the color bar, and racial inequality. Do you get the fact that you had to be someone to go to school?
Well, let’s walk a bit for the future. Slavery is almost gone from history books’ pages by this time we are talking of. Now you being born a girl would stand between your passion to go to school, and you go to school. If you were born in Africa, a girl, you going to school and having a proper education had a similar chance of you winning the lottery tonight. They promoted the idea of domestic femininity. In Imperial China, it was recognized that a woman’s virtue lay with her lack of knowledge. Female education wasn’t even worthy of attention. This gender inequality aspect in access to education is not simple as it seems. It was a ball of thread, entangled around cultural issues such as the tendency to early marriages, social issues such as violence, economic issues such as poverty, religious or traditional barriers, and much more. And here I repeat my question: Do you get the fact that you had to be someone to go to school?
“Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens”.
Education is what develops critical thinking. It shows the difference between good and bad. Education improves people’s understanding, makes life better, and above all, education is the way to being the best of ourselves. Through proper education, we can grow new skills, sharpen the existing ones, and make a living of it. Education is a means to eliminate poverty. Proper Education is a means to equality. It is the way to a quality life. It creates an environment where social justice thrives. Every human being on Earth, must, have the right to educate themselves. Education is not a privilege. It is a birthright.
And that’s why I consider ‘the declaration of education as a fundamental human right’ as the greatest human achievement, ever. The world had to come a long way, to fight and win over many social and cultural barriers, to make this stand, in unison. This stand itself is a victory of humankind and a most compassionate one.
“Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”
– Article 26 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
It ensures the legal framework necessary for equal and safe access to education, for everyone. Moreover, it empowers powerful communities to fight for the establishment and improvement of educational facilities in the needed communities.
“One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world” – Malala Yousafzai-
Education provides freedom in the most beautiful ways after all; it provides the freedom to lift each other up, the freedom to rise up from whatever we are, the freedom to dream, the freedom to fight for those dreams, and the freedom to make those dreams realities. Now that’s the freedom to celebrate life, don’t you think so?
By Rtr. Udari De Silva
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Beautifully written Udari 🥺❤️❤️
Wow 🤩❤ Enjoyed reading this!