Universities and Colleges for Education by Nihar Shah
Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through story telling, discussion, teaching, training, and or research. Education may also include informal transmission of such information from one human being to another. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of others, but learners may also educate themselves (autodidactic learning).[1] Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational.
Education is commonly and formally divided into stages such as preschool, primary school, secondary school and then college, university or apprenticeship. The science and art of how best to teach is called pedagogy.
A right to education has been recognized by some governments. At the global level, Article 13 of the United Nations' 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes the right of everyone to an education.[2] Although education is compulsory in most places up to a certain age, attendance at school often isn't, and a minority of parents choose home-schooling, sometimes with the assistance of modern electronic educational technology (also called e-learning). Education can take place in formal or informal settings.
Nalanda, ancient center for higher learning
Plato's academy, mosaic from PompeiiEducation began in the earliest prehistory, as adults trained the young in the knowledge and skills deemed necessary in their society. In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling passed knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to the next. As cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond skills that could be readily learned through imitation, formal education developed. Schools existed in Egypt at the time of the Middle Kingdom.[4]
Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi (right) in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements published in 1607Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in Europe.[5] The city of Alexandria in Egypt, founded in 330 BCE, became the successor to Athens as the intellectual cradle of Ancient Greece. There, mathematician Euclid and anatomist Herophilus constructed the great Library of Alexandria and translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. European civilizations suffered a collapse of literacy and organization following the fall of Rome in AD 476.[6]
In China, Confucius (551-479 BCE), of the State of Lu, was the country's most influential ancient philosopher, whose educational outlook continues to influence the societies of China and neighbors like Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Confucius gathered disciples and searched in vain for a ruler who would adopt his ideals for good governance, but his Analects were written down by followers and have continued to influence education in East Asia into the modern era.[citation needed]
After the Fall of Rome, the Catholic Church became the sole preserver of literate scholarship in Western Europe. The church established cathedral schools in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education. Some of these ultimately evolved into medieval universities and forebears of many of Europe's modern universities.[6] During the High Middle Ages, Chartres Cathedral operated the famous and influential Chartres Cathedral School. The medieval universities of Western Christendom were well-integrated across all of Western Europe, encouraged freedom of inquiry, and produced a great variety of fine scholars and natural philosophers, including Thomas Aquinas of the University of Naples; Robert Grosseteste of the University of Oxford, an early expositor of a systematic method of scientific experimentation;[7] and Saint Albert the Great, a pioneer of biological field research.[8] The University of Bologne is considered the oldest continually operating university.
Elsewhere during the Middle Ages, Islamic science and mathematics flourished under the Islamic caliphate established across the Middle East, extending from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Indus in the east and to the Almoravid Dynasty and Mali Empire in the south.
The Renaissance in Europe ushered in a new age of scientific and intellectual inquiry and appreciation of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg developed a printing press, which allowed works of literature to spread more quickly. The European Age of Empires saw European ideas of education in philosophy, religion, arts and sciences spread out across the globe. Missionaries and scholars also brought back new ideas from other civilisations €" as with the Jesuit China missions who played a significant role in the transmission of knowledge, science, and culture between China and Europe, translating works from Europe like Euclid's Elements for Chinese scholars and the thoughts of Confucius for European audiences. The Enlightenment saw the emergence of a more secular educational outlook in Europe.
In most countries today full-time education, whether at school or otherwise, is compulsory for all children up to a certain age. Due to this the proliferation of compulsory education, combined with population growth, UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more people will receive formal education than in all of human history thus far.[9]
Formal education[edit]Formal education occurs in a structured environment whose explicit purpose is teaching students. Usually formal education takes place in a school environment, with classrooms of multiple students learning together with a trained teacher. Most school systems are designed around a set of values or ideals that govern all educational choices in that system. Such choices include curriculum, physical classroom design, student-teacher interactions, methods of assessment, class size, educational activities, and more.[10][11]
Preschool[edit]
Young children in a kindergarten in JapanMain article: Early childhood education
Preschools provide education from ages 4 to 8, when children enter primary education. Also known as nursery schools and as kindergarten, except in the USA, where kindergarten is a term used for primary education.
Preschool education is important because it can give a child a competitive edge in education and employment.[citation needed] While children who do not receive the fundamentals during their preschool years will be taught the alphabet, counting, shapes, and colors when they begin their formal education, they will be behind the children who already possess that knowledge. Kindergarten "provide[s] a child-centered, preschool curriculum for three to seven year old children that aim[s] at unfolding the child's physical, intellectual, and moral nature with balanced emphasis on each of them."[12]
Primary[edit]
School children line, in Kerala, IndiaMain article: Primary education
Primary (or elementary) education consists of the first 5€"7 years of formal, structured education. In general, primary education consists of six to eight years of schooling starting at the age of five or six, although this varies between, and sometimes within, countries. Globally, around 89% of children aged 6-12 are enrolled in primary education, and this proportion is rising.[13] Under the Education For All programs driven by UNESCO, most countries have committed to achieving universal enrollment in primary education by 2015, and in many countries, it is compulsory. The division between primary and secondary education is somewhat arbitrary, but it generally occurs at about eleven or twelve years of age. Some education systems have separate middle schools, with the transition to the final stage of secondary education taking place at around the age of fourteen. Schools that provide primary education, are mostly referred to as primary schools or elementary schools. Primary schools are often subdivided into infant schools and junior school.
