Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “Education for Good Citizenship” Complete Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Education for Good Citizenship

According to Diogenes, “The foundation of every State is the education of its youth”. Education is thus the most important constituent of good citizenship. It implies cultivation of the’ mind to make life tolerable and the acquisition of skill for making it possible. The strength of a nation lies more in the quality of its people than in its material resources. A nation of weaklings can neither attain nor retain its independence. The youth are the cream of society, the real wealth of nation.

 Education of citizenship is a lifelong process. It begins at home before a child goes to school and continues even after one has attained the highest professional degrees. When education ceases, decay sets in. Citizens become mere automation.

Today, the concept of a nation, previously influenced by feudal, religious, racial and cultural ties, is characterized by two major attributes, viz., rational organization and a commitment to development. Education in this direction is the firm foundation on which these two attributes are raised. This is so because only education provides the necessary wherewithal to equip citizens with knowledge, skills and attitudes that go into the making of modern, rationally organized nations.

Education must, therefore, aim at providing future leadership from among the masses. It should aim at the pursuit of excellence. It must produce good citizens, able to serve the country at all times and in all circumstances. The society at present is peculiar to a developing country like India. It is also a society peculiar to a very old civilization. We are thus a synthesis of an old and glorious past, great cultural traditions and economic backwardness. Our education has to be oriented to meet the needs of this society. We must devise ways and means of regulating the system of education so that our young men and women should be trained to help our society to attain the goals of egalitarianism enshrined in our Constitution. Special emphasis should be placed on scientific and technical education so that the country is able to progress with a sound technical base. The prime duty of our men of science and technology is to transform this society of poverty into that of plenty. We must resolve to inculcate what Jawaharlal Nehru called a “scientific temper” among our citizens, if we wish to progress.

Education must also try to do away with age-old and baseless superstitions and beliefs. Prejudices of caste, creed and sex can be eliminated through education. In short, education should try to develop a rational, objective and modern outlook among the citizens for their own good as well as of the country.

This can be done if the four problems faced by the system of education at present are rectified. They are indiscipline among students, a gradual fall in standards, and mounting unemployment among the youth of the country. Drastic action is immediately required in these areas in addition to keeping the students engaged in constructive activities so that they are not politicized in their pursuit of goals in life.

The National Literacy Mission, launched in 1988, has done a commendable work in achieving 100 per cent literacy in some regions of the country. The emphasis should, then, be placed on education for citizenship on the same basis as “Each One, Teach One.” This will help the spread of requirements of good citizenship to the grassroots level. Of added concern should be a respect for the environment, commitment to equality and observance of the small-family norm. The need of the hour is to reorganize our education on these lines.