Education: An encapsulation of political triumph

Education is encapsulated in the political environment of any nation-state. Each nation-state from liberal democracies to totalitarian systems uses education as one of their state apparatus to transmit their political ideologies.

Literacy is an important aspect which is considered as a significant trait when it comes to politics. Even a small Island in the Caribbean, Dominica which has a population of mere 75, o00 people has an issue of education in its upcoming general elections.

After the Prime Minister of Commonwealth of Dominica made remarks on the opposition leader being uneducated, a few of the people claiming to be political critics got offended. They came up with stories to justify the success of a less educated or illiterate person.

Those success stories showed how can people being illiterate managed to become great businessmen, but is being a Prime Minister as same as being a businessman? The answer is big “No”, being a leader of a nation can never be same as selling some things, building an empire or ruling it like a king. It is way more than that, being a government leader is being a voice to the voiceless and giving a voice to hundreds or thousands of people; it is to do things for them, to create reforms, generate employment and fulfill all their necessities before they even ask for it. A businessman gives away to his employ only by keeping his profits but a leader gives away what comes; there is nothing like as keeping the profit.

However, they might have got some on their plate, but is it really important to be educated to become a leader of a country? Perhaps this is the question almost every citizen in the Commonwealth of Dominica has been asking each other.

The current Prime Minister Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit has an honorary doctorate and B.sc (Hons Psychology) and B.A. (English). But on the contrary side, leader of opposition Lennox Linton only has a basic education level, which is also unknown.

One of the earliest political philosophers Plato has given more importance to education to the extent that it must produce the best of the governments

As per Plato “It is the government which must flow from the education and not education from the government.”

It is commonly seen that the education system is dependent on the government. It is the government which decides how education must be. But if the government or the people who run the government are uneducated how come they can bring reforms for the betterment of literacy in a country?

Plato gives an extensive Theory of Education that would create such philosophers who were eligible to rule. It includes elementary education (10 years of physical training plus two years of moral education). And this was to be completed by the age of twenty. The disqualified were to take up the role of producers. Next was higher education (for 10 years) that included physical and mental training. The failures at this stage were to form the warriors.

Further, the third stage was preparing for the philosopher-king. It included 5 years of training in the art of dialectics and 15 years of practical training. So, a philosopher-king would emerge after 12+10+20 =42 years of vigorous training at the age of 50 years.

However, it seems that in twenty-first-century none of the politicians falls under the criteria of Plato, but the only way they can fit in it is by getting educated. We must stop advocating uneducated people and start embracing the struggle some people has to go through just to attain education. In some parts of countries like Africa, children walk miles just to attend a school to fulfill their dreams, but if a message of an uneducated success is spread in the world then the struggle by those thousands of children will go wasted. Education must be valued because it is not easy to get educated whereas staying uneducated is always a choice.