Impact of Education on Society

Right since the ancient times, quality of life, values at social and individual levels, spiritual and material progress have been direct products of education. Of course, the form and methodology of education have been undergoing transformation constantly and consistently with changing times. In ancient times, education was very intimately connected to religion and the social values of the day. But, during the recent centuries, the scope of education has increased enormously to include much more than what it did previously.

Wherever education flourishes, we can expect great refinement in the civilization, attitudes, social development and responsive administration. In modern times, we see far reaching impact of education in all spheres of life and in all corners of the globe. There are revolutionary changes in the understanding of nature and the truths of the universe. But in the evolutionary history of education, right from Socrates to Galileo, many great intellectuals, scientists and philosophers made great sacrifices in sticking to the truths they discovered. Only on the foundations of such sacrifices and lifetime contributions of many great people, the education survived and evolved to its present form. Thunderstorms were considered as the manifestations of the wrath of god but science proved this theory wrong. They used to perform rituals to cure a snake bite instead of taking proper medication or treatment. Similar way, some supernatural causes were attributed to diseases like smallpox etc., in the olden days. Educations have uprooted many such superstitions and social maladies. The lives of many people have drastically changed for better due to the education. Due to the increased awareness levels and progress in science there is an explosion of human population with improved quality of life and life spans. Education has the power to change people’s lives. Malala Yousafzai is the living example of the same.

Needs of the human beings and their consumption levels have risen sharply, bringing about enormous pressure on the natural resources and aggravating the pollution levels. We see sudden birth of various diseases, health hazards and natural disasters because of the human greed and over exploitation of the nature. But only education with it’s powerful research and development can solve these problems and also it can prevent the degeneration at all levels. Whenever there was absence of education, in parts of the world, there were dark ages, cruelty and many barbarities. But whenever there is quality education, we see enlightenment, quality life and upward swing in science and technology. Even in the modern world, in the societies impacted by the education, we see peace, development, order and refined culture. With the entry of education, there is improvement in the public health, minimum amenities and living standards. Many new branches of science and technology have originated making the life easier and finding solutions to the new problems and challenges. All through centuries education has been operating as a moderating force on society in various ways. Many social evils have been eradicated through education. Many social reforms have succeeded due to the advent of education only. Sati sahagamanam in India and human sacrifices in the world were the order of the day during the olden days. Cannibalism was prevalent in some parts of the world. Many superstitions had devastating effect on the societies. Only education could eradicate all these evils from the world. Education always served as an antidote to many brutalities and atrocities among human populations. As for India, child marriages, Devadasi system etc., were the commonly seen evils, which have declined drastically in recent period only due to education of the masses.