Role Of Education In Nation-Building 

By Rifaq Azhar –APRIL 24, 2018

Rifaq Azhar

In modern days, the term called ‘Social reform’ has been exponentially grabbed much attention of various parties and also became the focal point of every discussion being held at various level locally and internationally. It is widely suggested by many intellectuals and experts that if any society desires to enrich its standard and livelihood and to be an exemplary society that succeeded tremendously in attaining its pinnacle in various spectrum of prosperity, must indispensably embark on self-evaluation first enabling it to clearly identify its areas of strengths and weaknesses, so that it will be able to come up with unique mechanisms to convert its weaknesses into strengths and brace itself enough to encounter future obstacles. 

It is obvious that when we engage in any form of self-evaluation or prioritize the list of weaknesses that we probably face in day to day life whether it may be personal or social, the norm called ‘ignorance’ will immediately down in our minds as a primary weakness. Hence, all forms of ignorance prevailing in a society are obviously a great curse threatening the existence and self-identity of particular society. In this sense, none of us will contradict with my point that this threat namely ignorance must be overwhelmingly expelled in any way and at any cost. Perhaps, some may argue that it is not rational to say that ignorance still exists amid our society while the estimated level of literacy in Sri Lanka exceeds more than 90 percent. It is true to certain extend, but here I suppose to point out relatively wider aspects of ignorance about which we never mind or let say we neglected to think of it. The real meaning of ignorance which I intend to highlight is ignorance about our nature and hidden inner potentiality about which we are still not ready to discover, ignorance about our indigenous instincts and aspirations towards which as Sri Lankans we are quickly adoptable and having strong bond and above all, ignorance about our glorious history where our ancestors were able to control the region economically and culturally to larger extend and be strong enough to lead a respectable and decent life while they were shining in every facet of life without undermining their abilities and capabilities and even depending on ‘others’ for their livelihood and protection. It is more appropriate if I describe this ignorance as primary ignorance about us and our self-identity, which is obviously a great threat we have been encountering nowadays. 

The primary objective of this article is to shed light on this perception about the ignorance and how we made ourselves forgotten by external and internal factors. Having comprehended this perception, we should clearly distinguish the areas in which this ignorance is reflected and still alive and how it controls the minds of indigenous people irrespective of their academic standard and social statues. Based on the meticulous observations and exhaustive researches conducted by experts and professionals, we can typically categorize the areas of ignorance into four. Those are education policy of our country; political and legal system prevails since colonial periods to this date; economic policies that were conceptualized by foreign minds and finally socio-cultural practices which were determined by North and have been willingly or unwillingly practicing by South.    

Here, I neither mean to criticize the contemporary systems that our country has adopted in all four aspects which remain for many decades nor to introduce new policies as alternatives. Instead, I intend to urge ourselves to conduct self-evaluation in all facets of life including above four aspects in order to eradicate this primary threat forever and foster in ourselves the thought of self-identities and indigenous aspirations while we involve in social reforms. In this great journey, education can play a significant role in attaining such noble objectives. At first, I would like to raise a preliminary question over the outcomes of present education policy whether it has really attained what it does mean or failed to do so. As we all know that the ultimate objectives of any education are predominantly to impart knowledge that enables each student to be creative and beneficial to their own society and then nation and also to instil in them the very basic ethics and moralities while discovering and developing their hidden talents and skills. 

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