Question 13: Examine the role of education in the economic development of a nation.
Answer:
An increase in the level of production of goods and services of a country along with improvement in the quality of life is referred to as economic development. The role of education in the economic development of a nation is explained through the following points:
i. Imparts Quality Skills and Knowledge: Education endows people with quality skills and, thereby, enhances their productivity. Consequently, it enhances the income earning capacities of and opportunities for people. Moreover, it also enables human capital to utilise the available physical capital optimally.
ii. Develops Mental Abilities: Education develops mental abilities of people and helps them to make their choice rationally and intellectually. Education churns out good citizens by inculcating values in them.
iii. Acceptability of Modernisation: An educated public of a nation has greater acceptability of modernisation and modern techniques. This not only helps the economy to grow but also facilitates a primitive economy to break the shackles of traditions and backwardness.
iv. Eradicates Skewed Income Distribution: Education not only increases the income earning capacity but also reduces the skewed distribution of income and thereby forms an egalitarian society.
v. Raises Standard and Quality of Living: Education enhances the income earning capacity of people and, thereby, it raises the standard of living and also improves the quality of living.
vi. Increases the Participation Rate: It fosters economic development by increasing the participation of people in the process of growth and development.
vii. One Solution for Other Economic Problems: The importance of education is not only limited to making people educated but also in facilitating an underdeveloped economy to solve different but interrelated macro economic problems like, poverty, income inequality, population, investments, under utilisation of resources.
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