Human civilization has progressed and reached the 21st century today. In fact, human society has made a lot of progress. The parameters of this progress will be different for everyone; the scale will also be different for everyone. If we look at the journey from the Stone Age to today, we have actually progressed a lot - in every field - knowledge, science, technology, geography. Ever since the emergence of man in the universe, his brain has been continuously developing and at the same time, through that developed brain, man has spread the footprints of development in every field.
If we look at the Stone Age, making weapons to protect ourselves from stones, trees, leaves or animal bones was the beginning of human development. Then, with time, the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel were in themselves the equivalent of reaching the moon today. In that era when there was no formal education, man still discovered fire or invented the wheel. Therefore, the only element which is constant in the development of society is knowledge.
It also proves that education itself is not an important or essential element, but proper education is very essential for a civilized society. If we grasp this fact then it would not be untrue to say that today's human society is more civilized than any previous period because the literacy rate today is higher than in any other year. This fact can be said for any nation, society or particular group. Literacy rate is considered to be one of the main components of measuring the development of any nation and no one should have any objection to this.
Education is undoubtedly a medium to improve human life. Perhaps education is the only key which provides solution to every kind of problems, directly or indirectly. The darkness of every evil growing in the society can be reduced or removed only by the light of knowledge, which is ignited only by the flame of education. For example, you can name any evil - dowry system, child marriage, female feticide, gender discrimination, female illiteracy or any problem, if any society or nation has succeeded in reducing the rate of each evil. If it has been achieved then it has been possible only through the powerful science of education. So what should be the aim of education? Is the aim of education only to make a person capable of getting employment? Probably not. Along with employment, the aim of education should also be to provide a respectable life to any person. And this will be possible when everyone will respect each other and each other's rights in the light of education. Only through education can everyone become aware of their rights and their duties towards their society and nation. When everyone considers respecting each other's life as their human duty, then automatically the flag of humanity will fly and there will be an atmosphere of happiness, peace and harmony all around.
A harmonious life is not possible just by respecting each other's rights, at the same time it is very important that the anarchy spread in the society, hatred and violent tendencies in humans should be eradicated and such evil thoughts can be defeated only by good education. The darkness of animosity can be dispelled only by the light of education and knowledge.
Today we have succeeded in reducing the distance to Mars or Sun to zero due to the advancement of technical knowledge, this is a matter of great joy, but we are not able to make Vasundhara a heaven because war, terrorism, unrest, violence have spread all around. Today there is a need for world peace; of mutual harmony in every nation; to implement Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. For the last two years, the Russia-Ukraine war has been going on without any break, the world has also suffered the attack on Palestine by Hamas. Sometimes China seems to be occupying Taiwan and sometimes the news of war with Iran is distressing. In short, the shadow of unrest looms from time to time in every corner of the world. In such a situation, how can any nation, whether developed or developing, assure security and a fear-free life to its citizens? In the words of Aung San Suu Kyi, freedom means a life free from fear. The proper use of education for human beings, Do it for the progress of society and your nation. We should invest the resources in the right direction, in the interest of humanity, in which everyone's interest lies and everyone's welfare is achieved. We should use technical knowledge in positive, developmental activities instead of destructive activities so that we can pave the way for progress not only for our own nation but for others as well.
What is the use of any freedom when there is an atmosphere of unrest and fear all around? That is, if man wants to live a beautiful, satisfied, peaceful and harmonious life, then it can truly be said that human life is meaningful. So that is possible only when we can remove the darkness of ignorance from everyone's heart with the lamp of education, only then the true aim of education will be meaningful and man will become worthy of being called human. Today, education is not about paper degrees but it is necessary to establish a society where people with technical knowledge also know humanity so that technology can be used for human welfare. Undoubtedly, the help of technology is needed to move the vehicle of development forward, but for the proper use of technology, human beings imbued with humanity are also needed. The day education succeeds in achieving its true goal, the world will be filled with the fragrance of Ram Rajya and human society will become worthy of being called civilized in the true sense.