Shabait.com (Asmara)
28 August 2008
editorial
Asmara — When summer rains give in to the crisp sun of September, students and teachers return to class after two months of vacation.
Education is one of the most important social services that enables the youth to gain valuable scientific knowledge about themselves and their environment and trains them to become active members of their community. Hence education is one of the fundamental human rights.
Giving education a priority in the national development strategy, the Eritrean government has been striving to provide children and young students with an access to education so that they could lead a successful life and participate in the development of their community. Education is the basic prerequisite that enables citizens to share equal benefits of the nation's resources and use their creativity in the nation building process. Recognizing the determinant role of education, the Government of Eritrea has been making substantial investments to ensure equal provision of educational services overall the country and to improve and revise the curriculum every year. Today, in most parts of the world there is no free provision of education and people have to pay for any kind of academic or vocational training. And in some parts of the world where there is provision of free education, government officials and other privileged members of the society send their children to private or international schools while state-run schools remain neglected and provide educational services of inferior quality to poor children.
Contrary to the afore-mentioned scenario, in Eritrea almost all schools are governmental and a considerable portion of national budget is allocated to the education sector so as to ensure the provision of quality educational services free of charge. As a result of the Government's particular focus on the sector, a considerable number of schools, starting from pre-school level have been built even in the most remote parts of the country. Before independence, 70% of the schools in the country were located in the highland areas; today there is an equal distribution of schools in both areas as a result of the increase in the number of schools in the lowlands. Moreover, colleges specializing in specific fields have also been established in different regions of the country as part of the Government's efforts to cultivate skilled, confident and productive citizens.
The ultimate objective of the ongoing endeavors to provide free and quality education for all nationals is thus to create an environment where every citizen could lead a rewarding life, thereby accelerating the pace of the economic development process. And teachers are the people that lead the education sector at the forefront and practically apply the Government's objectives in this aspect of the national development strategy. As is generally known, the efficiency or inefficiency of a given teacher can influence the future of many students. Hence teachers should recognize and respect the profound value of their profession and should earnestly execute the responsibility entrusted to them by the people and government to educate and positively influence young minds. Students on their part should clearly understand that today's world has no place for uneducated and unskilled people and thus they should strive hard to acquire competent skills.
Parents are the part of the society that participates in educating and training students outside school compound. And to say that students with the most attentive parents tend to excel in their academic performance would be to state the obvious. The root cause of a student's failure is usually inattentive parents. Thus, understanding that they have an important role to play in the education sector, parents should not only closely monitor their children's educational performance but should also take care to redirect their children's attention from any kind of harmful distraction. A good beginning of a new school year to all students, teachers and parents!
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