Remarkable efforts are being made in terms of increasing enrolments and commitment of resources to education in various parts of the world. Despite this progress, it has been difficult to achieve a cultural shift towards prioritizing education, and according to a 2020 UNESCO report, some 763 million young people and adults lack basic literacy skills.
The Bahá’í Writings state that: “Knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone”.
As a basic human right, everyone must be given the opportunity to benefit from education – men and women, boys and girls.
According to the governing council of the Bahá’í international community: “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”.
Education – whether formal or informal – is the most effective way to shape the values, attitudes, and behaviours of individuals towards creating a better a world. Education can prepare them to act in the long-term interests of the humanity. In order to achieve this, our educational systems should help our children and youth in their moral empowerment, as well as their intellectual development.
The founder of the Bahá’í Faith, “… Bahá’u’lláh considered education as one of the most fundamental factors of a true civilization. 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”.
A kind of education that would enrich both the mind and the spirit must try to develop moral attributes such as truthfulness, courtesy, generosity, compassion, justice, love, and trustworthiness. Reflection of such qualities in life can create harmonious, productive families and communities. Such an education, at the same time, should help to instill in every individual the awareness of the fundamental oneness of humanity, to value our diversity and to interact happily with people of different backgrounds.
According to the Universal House of Justice, the governing council of the Bahá’í international community: “the diversity that characterizes the human family, far from contradicting its oneness, endows it with richness. Unity, in its Bahá’í expression, contains the essential concept of diversity, distinguishing it from uniformity. … world unity is possible—nay, inevitable—it ultimately cannot be achieved without unreserved acceptance of the oneness of humankind”.
Furthermore, educational programs should cultivate in individuals the capacity to participate in their own development. It should make them collaborators, both in their own growth and in the development of their communities.
For feedback please contact: tshwane@bahai.org.za; or call 083 794 0819
Websites: www.bahai.org, www.bahai.org.za
