Let’s leverage the celebrations of the international day of education to deepen its impacts

The International Day of Education for the year 2022 as proclaimed by UNESCO is being held on 24^th January, with the theme “Changing course, Transforming Education”. It is in line with some of the recommendations that have been agreed upon by stakeholders and the UN as ways of reviving the standards of education which have suffered a great deal as a result of the emergence of COVID 19. Many parts of the world have had to slow down their education activities and as such there is need to revive and make it to go back on course. Education is a must even in times of such disasters and pandemics because it is through education that we shall learn and continue learning about its prevalence, prevention, and available cures.  

Education is needed to ensure that communities have the right information on health options and hence enable them to have healthy outcomes that makes them more productive for national development. The first purpose of education in Kenya according to the Ominde Report on education of 1964 is to enable the person who has undergone through it to be able to use their hands, eyes, and mind properly. This is intended to completely change the person through education and as such make the world a changed place. This use of education agrees with the observation of Nelson Mandela to the effect that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” The second purpose of education is to produce the next generation of people that will solve societal challenges. This is important because challenges brought by climate change, global warming, emergence of epidemics and insecurity will require critical thinking and education to address.

The third purpose of education is to support the complete development of young people through inculcating positive ethnic identity. This is done through ensuring that education activities have interactions with persons from different ethnic backgrounds which improves and understanding of such ethnicities. They are able to understand the strengths and uniqueness of others, which is important in national building. This assertion agrees again with Nelson Mandela quote that “Young people must take it upon themselves to ensure that they receive the highest education possible so that they can represent us well in future as future leaders”