EDUCATION IS A PREREQUISITE

Why is education so important?
Why is it necessary to stay literate in the 21st century?
Why is learning a very vital area of improvement especially in a country like Nigeria?

The importance of education can never be overemphasized, it's effects supersedes the conventional class subjects students are taught everyday in schools, it's more than numbers and theories. It's more than text books and workbooks. It's KNOWLEDGE. It's that priceless information distributed in the small pages of a book. It's the information we pick up while interacting with students from different backgrounds. It's the transfer of knowledge from one source to the other. It's the constant intellectual refinement we acquire within and outside the four walls of a school. This exposure is the differentiating factor between a literate mind and an illiterate. Education exposes you to the world you live in, provides you with facts that sharpen your opinions on various issues. The power of education is limitless. It starts off in the class but it spreads its wings throughout the society. Hence, the need for the larger percentage of  a country's population  to be educated. Imagine a Nigeria where a very high percentage of her citizens have access to  'good quality' education. Imagine a Nigeria where students are provided with adequate learning materials. Imagine a Nigeria where students are taught by qualified teachers and teachers are paid excellently well. Education not only widens the knowledge of its acquirers but also aids economic growth, national development, social development, mental growth, improvement in the health sector, reduction of poverty and restructuring of mindsets etc.
I spent this year's children's week (May 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 27th) speaking to children on the importance of getting a good education and reading constantly while at it. I interacted with children from different backgrounds and different schools and of varying ages.  I saw the passion they have for books and reading. This gave me hope for the future of Nigeria as a country. Most of the children went home with books from the Rainbow Book Club and other reading materials.

According to President Barack Obama- 'In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity-it is a prerequisite'. It's about time we made education a prerequisite. It's about time we took a good look into the country's policy on education and come up with new and fresh policies that actually work.

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