I was travelling in a train, where I saw two persons at the adjoining seat engulfed in a heated discussion. The first being a student boasted of an erstwhile schooling while the other boasted of a lifetime experience. The student argued that he could read and write and was thus educated while the other argued that the ability to read and write didn’t mean education. The discussion nearly hit a violent node when the train reached the station. Both fathomed at the incompetency of each other, what they still didn’t understand was the difference between literacy and education.
There is an established misconception in our society that education and literacy are synonymous of each other. A large sect of people believes it to be one and the same, while some believe literacy as a step stone to achieve education. Though, there lies a bit of truth in the above it would be categorically wrong to imbibe literacy as the sole form of education. Then what is the difference between literacy and education?
Literacy is defined as acquiring the ability to read, write and understand. It is entirely concerned with the art of reading and writing. It provides information that can be used as a step stone to knowledge, where information is a theoretical knowhow of a subject while knowledge is the awareness about the use of that information. “Literacy provides a person with the ability to acquire information to develop the knowhow called education.” While an educated person can be a literate, every literate person cannot be called educated. Education is a broader concept which brings all round development of a human personality into consideration. Whereas literacy is a narrower concept that tends to maintain the status quo. Education aims to make a person rational i.e. to think comprehensively and reason scientifically. It includes developing skills and learning to maneuver them in the right direction.
Also, education brings revolution in the way of thinking. It encourages a person to think out of the box (creatively). It inspires a person to be curious, innovative and develop a rational behavior. The relative behavior depends from the people to people, where the form of education varies. A person’s education varies from field to field and may not necessarily liberate him from mental slavery. But a common ideology believes educated being to be bereft of superstitions, biasedness, irrational socio-religious beliefs and customs.
There are following situations that can convene when understanding the issue of literacy and education:
- A person may be literate and also educated;
- A person may be literate but not educated;
- A person may be illiterate but still be educated;
- And a person maybe be illiterate and uneducated.
Another misconception nurtured by our society is that a person with a educational degree or diploma is educated. If that was the case than the founding fathers of our Constitution wouldn’t have been called learned. A literate person may need an educational degree to prove his education, but a learned person doesn’t need a degree to prove it. For example “The educational institutions in India are brimming with literates but are failing to produce educated beings”. A student cannot be considered educated with a mere ability to read and write. The student has to be changed in whole, which includes teaching him to be socio-legally responsible towards the society.
Literacy is not the sole form of education. An illiterate person can still be learned just like Emperor Akbar and Poet Kabira were. For example, a politician being illiterate may still be highly skilled in the art of being a politician; a painter in the skill of painting, a musician in the art of making music etc. The main purpose of education is to direct a person’s behavior, while literacy is one of the tools towards that direction. Education is a combination of experience and practice which not necessarily includes literacy. An illiterate sailor with lifetime worth of practice and experience in sea may still be learned and educated. Historically many saints and philosophers, though illiterate guided the coming generations with their experienced teachings. In short knowing the knowable is education.
The greatest issue with our society is that it denotes literacy at par with education. It strives to make a country full of literates but not educated. It is an undeniable fact that illiteracy is a root cause of many problems but illiteracy in itself does not denote lack of education. A literate can read, write and understand but may not turn out to be a responsible person. Education may not necessarily construe people to be visionary but can make them rational and responsible citizens. It's high time that we understand the difference between literacy and education. The mere ability to read and write is not enough.