Education: Key to unlocking human potential

Flora Teckie
Correspondent
International Literacy Day, marked globally on September 8, underlines the important role education plays for the empowerment of individual and the development of our communities.

Education is a basic human right to which everyone is entitled.

But looking at the current UNESCO statistics, globally 774 million people (15 years and older) still cannot read or write, and amongst these two-thirds of them (493 million) are women. And among youth, 123 million are illiterate of which 76 million are female.

Education is the key to the development of our God-given talents and potentialities. It also has an important role in the development and advancement of society.

Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, states:“Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom”.

Accordingly, human beings are full of potential waiting to be developed, and not empty vessels to be filled with instructions and information.

And the aim of education should be the discovery and perfection of our God-given potential, talents and capacities, and to enable us to serve the best interests of humanity.

When education becomes an instrument through which we learn to serve the best interests of our families, communities and the human family, then education contributes not only to our personal growth, but also towards transformation in society, and it becomes the means for the creation of just, peaceful and harmonious communities.

A comprehensive and balanced education

“… Bahá’u’lláh considered education as one of the most fundamental factors of a true civilisation. This education, however, in order to be adequate and fruitful, should be comprehensive in nature and should take into consideration not only the physical and the intellectual side of man but also his spiritual and ethical aspects”.

Education, according to the Bahá’í Writings, is of three kinds: material, human and spiritual.

Material education concerns itself with how to improve our physical well-being, including better hygiene and nutrition, better family health and greater capacity to earn and provide food, clothing and shelter.

Human education concerns civilisation and progress, knowledge of commerce, the sciences and the arts, and the understanding of institutions and policy.

Spiritual education deals with acquiring the right values and with the shaping of characters.

It tries to develop moral attributes such as compassion, justice, love, truthfulness, trustworthiness, courtesy and generosity.

Spiritual education is essential for the victory of our spiritual nature over our lower nature.

“Knowledge is praiseworthy when it is coupled with ethical conduct and virtuous character” state the Bahá’í Writings, and that “Schools must first train the children in the principles of religion, … but this in such a measure that it may not injure the children by resulting in ignorant fanaticism and bigotry”.

A balanced education would also include an element of serving others.

Serving the common good, in addition in its role in building better communities, is an essential aspect of our own spiritual development.

Role of education in building a peaceful world

Education is the most effective way of harnessing the power of our values, attitudes, behaviours and skills towards creating a better world.

Education can play a key role in building a peaceful world society, through instilling in every individual the awareness of the fundamental oneness of humanity — that is necessary for unity in our communities and the world at large.

Universal education is one of the prerequisites for world peace.

In this regard, the Bahá’í teachings prescribe that education should be provided for all and equally for boys and girls.

In a statement entitled “The Promise of World Peace”, the Universal House of Justice (the governing council of the Baha’i International Community) emphasises the importance of universal education and its link with peace.

The governing council states that: “[The] cause of universal education … deserves the utmost support that the governments of the world can lend it. For ignorance is indisputably the principal reason for the decline and fall of peoples and the perpetuation of prejudice. No nation can achieve success unless education is accorded all its citizens”, and that “In keeping with the requirements of the times, consideration should also be given to teaching the concept of world citizenship as part of the standard education of every child”.

There is a close relationship between the spiritual and moral education and peace. “Peace”, according to the Bahá’í Writings, “stems from an inner state supported by a spiritual or moral attitude, and it is chiefly in evoking this attitude that the possibility of enduring solutions can be found”.

We, therefore, need an integrated approach to the development of the various capacities that we potentially have — spiritual, moral, intellectual, emotional, and physical.

Moral capabilities, when expressed in a manner consistent with the belief in the oneness of humanity, and with the aim of fostering spiritual, social and intellectual development of everyone in our human family, represent a key element for the transformation required to build a peaceful world.

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