Former Education Minister Dr. Dale Bisnauth at commissioning or similar ceremonies always emphasised that “education is not certification” and rather it is process of preparation for life.
“The definition of education in common usage, that education is merely the delivery of knowledge, skills and information from teachers to students, is inadequate to capture what is really important about being and becoming educated. “
“The proper definition of education is the process of becoming an educated person.”
“Being an educated person means you have access to optimal states of mind regardless of the situation you are in.”
“You are able to perceive accurately, think clearly and act effectively to achieve self-selected goals and aspirations.”
“Education is a process of cognitive cartography, mapping your experiences and finding a variety of reliable routes to optimal states when you find yourself in non-optimal states.” (Source: Don Berg, Founder Attitutor Services)
This is so true because education indeed should be a process which equips one with the knowledge skills and most importantly the character to have the capacity to adequately deal with the challenges of life. And perhaps the greatest investment in children and even adults is one in education.
Ms. Judy Baker in her US congressional campaign in 2008 summed it up beautifully: “Our children are our future, and there is no more important investment than in their education. We cannot afford to neglect the importance of a well grounded and well rounded education and the long lasting impacts of active parents and involved teachers. “
Therefore our education system has to be geared towards preparation of a well-rounded student, rather than one who is merely a repository of knowledge.
On this note, the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) must be highly commended for sponsoring the Impromptu Speech Competition among secondary schools. This was indeed a fine and thoughtful gesture on the part of this corporate citizen which others should emulate and also become partners with the Ministry of Education and make tangible contributions to help improve our education systems and prepare our children to face the challenges of life. After all the private sector and the country as a whole will benefit in the long run if we have students who are better equipped to take on the challenges of the world after leaving school. Therefore corporate citizens should not hesitate to join the partnership to bolster the education system.
Impromptu speech benefits students in several ways including the improvement of oral expression, development of confidence in public speaking, being able to think quickly on their feet and development of leadership and language and communication skills. Incidentally our society to a large extent is deficient in these skills and the performance of our students in English examinations is one of our concerns and the GBTI’s Impromptu Speech Competition will certainly help in this regard and one would hope that it is continued.
For too long we have had too many in our society who only are able to identify weaknesses and problems and too few who are actually doing things to rectify our weaknesses and problems. But the gesture by GBTI certainly falls into the latter category which needs to expand. On this note, President Jagdeo once correctly observed that we have become a society of “gripers” instead of “doers.” It is time now that we reverse this trend and the example set by GBTI is one of the ways we could go about doing this.