Education and Humanity
“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” Aristotle
Before you read
a) Who are these people?
b) What are they known for? How did education contribute to their success in life? Discuss with a partner.
c) What do you think the text is about?
Daya Bir Singh Kansakar (1911 - 5 February 2001) was a Nepalese social worker and the first blood donor in Nepal. He was also the chief founder of Paropakar Organization, the country's earliest social service organization. He was born in Kathmandu. His father, Bhawani Bir Singh Kansakar, was a trader. His mother was named Laxmi Devi. Kansakar studied up to Class 8 at Durbar High School in Kathmandu, and then took up self-study at home. He married Chandra Laxmi Tuladhar of Nhyokha in 1927.
In 1944, Kansakar donated blood at Bir Hospital in Kathmandu for a patient who was in a critical state, and became Nepal's first blood donor. He continued to engage in social work, distributing free medicines to the needy. On 26 September 1947, Paropakar was formed under his leadership with the aim of providing service in an institutional manner.
b) Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking
Hawking (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009.
c) Malala Yousafzai
Who Is Malala Yousafzai?
Malala Yousafzai defied the Taliban in Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. She was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 but survived. In 2014, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education advocate who, at the age of 17 in 2014, became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban. Yousafzai became an advocate for girls' education when she herself was still a child, which resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. On October 9, 2012, a gunman shot Yousafzai when she was traveling home from school. She survived and has continued to speak out on the importance of education.
Key points from the speech
v “Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One teacher, one book, one pen, can change the world,” Ms. Yousafzai said, in an impassioned address to the UN Youth Assembly.
v Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has dubbed today – Ms. Yousafzai's 16th birthday – 'Malala Day' in honour of her heroic stand to ensure education for all. The meeting, which featured nearly 1,000 youth leaders, was addressed by former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in his capacity as UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Vuk Jeremić, President of the General Assembly, and Ahmad Alhendawi, the Special Envoy on Youth.
v Ms. Yousafzai told the gathering that the Taliban's attack nine months ago changed nothing in her life, except that “weakness, fear and hopelessness died.”
v “The extremists were, and they are, afraid of books and pens,” she said. “The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women.” Urging worldwide action against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, she said: “Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”
v This call to action was delivered just as the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO) Education for All Global Monitoring Report, launched a new policy paper spotlighting that globally, the number of children out of school has fallen from 60 million in 2008 to 57 million in 2011. However, 28 million children out of school live in the world's conflict zones, and more than half of those are women and girls.
v “So here I stand,” Ms. Yousafzai declared before the Assembly, “one girl among many. I speak – not for myself, but for all girls and boys. I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.
v Describing the terrible October 2012 incident that only strengthened her resolve, she said the Taliban shot her on the left side of her forehead. “They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed,” she said, adding that the incident instead gave birth to “thousands of voices.”
v “The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born. I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. My dreams are the same.”
v Telling the Assembly that she was focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they were suffering the most, Ms. Yousafzai called upon world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace and prosperity.
v “We call upon all Governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world,” she said, also calling on Governments to fight against terrorism and violence, to protect children from brutality and harm.
v In his remarks, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Ms. Yousafzai, praising her courage and determination.
v “Malala chose to mark her 16th birthday with the world,” Mr. Ban said, noting the strong support she has received from millions of people all over the world is a clear sign saying: “Malala, you are not alone. We are all with you, standing behind you.”
v Mr. Ban reiterated the UN's commitment to give access to quality education to every girl and boy through its Global Education First Initiative which has three priorities: to put every child in school, improve the quality of learning, and foster global citizenship.
v “No child should have to die for going to school. Nowhere should teachers fear to teach or children fear to learn. Together, we can change the picture,” he said.
v Mr. Ban also encouraged the students gathered at the Youth Assembly, to continue to voice their concerns on issues that matter to them.
v “I urge you to keep speaking out. Keep raising the pressure. Keep making a difference,” Mr. Ban said. “You are sending a message – a message of hope and empowerment … a message of dignity and opportunity. All of you are on the frontlines.”
v President of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremić underlined the urgency of providing access to education to every child regardless of factors like geography, gender, disability, language, wealth and ethnicity, and called Member States to act quickly to avoid further disparities in education levels.
v He also stressed that the quality of education should be improved, providing young people with the necessary skills to succeed in the current world economy.
v “School enrollment is nothing more than a necessary foundation upon which to build a 21st-century set of educational standards,” Mr. Jeremić said. “Basic literacy should not be seen as an end in itself, but merely as a baseline tool for teaching cognition, mathematics, problem-solving, and creative thinking.”
v Opening the proceedings, Mr Brown told the Youth Assembly: “You cannot say there is anything other than an education emergency that we need to solve.” With that in mind, he hailed young people as “the new superpower in the world” with the capability to overcome all obstacles to access education.
v On 17 June, Mr. Brown launched a worldwide petition calling for urgent action to ensure the right of every child to safely attend school. Ms. Yousafzai was the first signatory and since then more than one million people have signed the petition.
Ways with words
A. Find the words from the text which mean the following.
a. a messenger or representative, especially one on a diplomatic mission -Envoy
b. the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect -honorable
c. harm done to someone in response to harm -revenge
d. a person who holds extreme views in political or religious matters -extremist
e. sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others -compassion
f. a person who is believed to speak for God -prophet
g. the study of the nature of knowledge, reality and existence - philosophy
h. the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage or destroy -violence
i. an unreasonable dislike of a particular group of people or things -hate/prejudice
B. Match the words on the left with their opposite meanings on the right.
a. honour i. disgrace
b. innocent ii. guilty
c. brutality iii. kindness
d. forgiveness iv. punishment
e. illiteracy v. Literacy
C. Using dictionary
Dictionary contains at least three forms of information about a word: pronunciation,
word class (parts of speech) and meaning.
Look at the following dictionary entry of the words ‘humanity’and ‘humanize’ (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 9th edition):
humanity/hjuːˈmænəti/ noun1 [U] people in general: He was found guilty of crimes against humanity. 2 [U] the state of being a person rather than a god, an animal or a machine: The story was used to emphasize the humanity of Jesus. united by a sense of common humanity 3. [U] the quality of being kind to people and animals by making sure that they do not suffer more than is necessary; the quality of being humane: The judge was praised for his courage and humanity. OPP inhumanity 4(the) humanities [pl.] the subjects of study that are about the way people think and behave, for example literature, language, history and philosophy: The college offers a
wide range of courses in the arts and humanities. humanize (BrE also -ise) /ˈhjuːmənaɪz/ verb~sth to make sth more pleasant or suitable for people; to make sth more HUMANE: These measures are intended to humanize the prison system.
a. Study the dictionary entry above and answer these questions.
i. What is the headword in the first entry?
The headword in the first entry is “human”.
ii. How many meanings of the word ‘humanity’ are given?
There are four meanings given of the word ‘humanity’.
iii. What do the abbreviations U, OPP, pl, and sth stand for?
U stands for Uncountable
OPP stands for opposite
pl stands for plural
sth stands for something
iv. What is the British English spelling of ‘humanize’?
The British English spelling of the word ‘humanize’ is ‘humanise’.
v. How is the word ‘humanize ‘pronounced?
The word ‘humanized is pronounces as /hjuːmənʌɪz/
vi. If we say Every person should have the sense of humanity, which meaning of ‘humanity’ is applied?
The meaning is the ‘quality of being kind to people and animals by making sure that they do not suffer more than is necessary; the quality of being humane:’
b. Arrange the following words in alphabetical order.
i. Advance, analysis, amuse, allergy, attain, aid, anxiety, acute, agreement
Ans:- acute, advance, agreement, aid, allergy, amuse, analysis, anxiety, assure, attain
ii. smoke, small, smart, speaking, smelling, smoothly, smuggler, smashed, smearing, smallpox
Ans:- small, smallpox, smart, smashed, smearing, smelling, smoke, smoothly, smuggler, speaking
iii. Terminal, terminate, terminology, termite, terms, terrace, terrible, terribly, territory , terror
c. Make a list of five new words from the reading text. Using a dictionary, write their meanings and use the words in sentences of your own
Comprehension
Answer the following questions:
a) Why did the speaker receive thousands of good wishes cards and gifts from all over the world?
Ans:- The speaker received thousands of good wishes cards and gifts from all over the world because she was recovered and got a new life after she was shot by a local Pakistani Taliban to stop her fighting for the right to education.
b) According to the speaker, what are hundreds of human right activists and social workers working for?
Ans:- According to the speaker hundreds of human right activists and social workers are struggling for their goal of education, peace and equality.
c) What has she learnt from Gandhi?
Ans:- She has learnt the philosophy of Non-violence from Gandhi.
d) In what sense is peace necessary for education?
Ans:- Peace is necessary for education because wars and conflicts stop children to go to their schools.
e) According to the speaker, what are the main problem faced by both men and women?
Ans:- According to the speaker, the main problems faced by both men and women are poverty, injustice and ignorance.
f) What is Malala calling upon all governments?
Ans:- She is calling upon all governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world and to fight against terrorism and violence, to protect children from brutality and harm.
g) What is the main message of this speech?
Ans:- The world is suffered of different problems and only one solution of all the problem is ensuring education for all.
Critical Thinking
a. All children have the right to equality education. How can we ensure this right to every child? Discuss the role of government and the parents to make sure that every child can attend school.
It is said that today's children are the pillars of the future of any nation. If any country wants to set its glorious path towards development and prosperity, the priority to education must be given first. Many countries and organizations working in education sector have repeated the motto "All children have the right to equality education.", but due to conflict, economic discrimination, poverty, religious rigidness, political instability, corruption, social and racial hierarchy and so on many children are deprived of this right. To control and manage education sector, our country has a different ministry i.e. Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and have made thousands of plans and policies regarding the education. Though education is a fundamental human right, according to UNICEF, 0.8 million children belonging age group 5-12 years are out of school. Government's aim to educate all doesn't become successful until the parents are not supportive. We can ensure this right by making our government compels to implement all the plans and policies correctly. Counseling to the parents of such children is must to get them ready to send their children to school, if necessary, Government must bring some supporting programs to such parents who are not ready to send their children to school. The children are also needed motivation so government must manage education materials and free education to all.
b) Do you think that there is still discrimination between sons and daughters in terms of providing education in our country? What strategies do you suggest to overcome such discriminations against girls?
Yes, there is still discrimination between sons and daughters in terms of providing education in our country. In exploring access to education, discrimination includes the many conditions that prevent children from having equal opportunities to access different levels of education, as well as having access to unequal qualities of education. Still our country has been dominated by patriarchal system on which the main preference is given to male child this is what gender discrimination in education is. The main preference to male child has negatively influenced girl's right to education, health and survival opportunities. Gender discrimination against girls in schooling are because of early marriage, pregnancy, violence at school, lack of funding, dangerous journey, poor sanitations, too few female teachers and so on. To overcome such discriminating against girls, in my view, the first strategy would be the tradition of giving preference to male child should be corrected. All people must have knowledge that both male and female children are equal not only in terms of educating them but also in other sectors such as economic right, job opportunity, decision making as so on. The second strategy is, the government must train teachers and parents to be aware of gender. All are equal and have equal potentials on the path of success and prosperity. To do so government must implement gender equality and women empowerment projects effectively.
c. A Chinese philosopher Confucius said, "If your plan is for one year, plant rice; if your plan is for ten years, plant trees; if you plan is for one hundred years, educate children." What is the meaning of this saying? Elaborate this with examples.
Confucius (770–481 BCE) is a Chinese philosopher, most famous teacher, and a political theorist. He is one of the most influential persons in the history in the world. His sayings are simple in language, but very much effective and useful in daily life. Still his sayings are relevant in this modern world. Because of his immortal and long-lasting deeds, still people remember him. His saying, "If your plan is for one year, plant rice; if your plan is for ten years, plant trees; if you plan is for one hundred years, education children", given in the question, is one of the useful says regarding the importance of education. Not only in modern days, even during his time education was important and to make people clear about the importance of education he said this. According to him educating the children has long lasting effect on the development and prosperity. Providing other things to the children is not long lasting it is just like planting rice or a tree but providing education is long lasting. It is only education that makes people different from other who is not educated. They are just living in darkness and ignorance. Education is a light of life and broadens the potential of mental developments. The development of human kind depends of education.
Best of Luck !
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Explanation of Unit 1, Education & Humanity
Grade 11, English, Language Development,Unit-1, Word Class,
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