Why education is one important aspect of sustainability?

Based on my life experience and my understanding

6 weeks teaching English in Thailand

Education builds the world, and connects human beings to share common interests and different mindset. Education helps us to realize our potential and boost our self-awareness to know ourselves and live a fulfilled life.

Education always exists as a system and holds the most powerful position in all aspects to impact our life positively but the world has changed too fast that education almost seem impossible to catch up with the changes and for sustainable development. Education connects the past, present and future that leads to sustainability. This does not work if the current education remains stuck and old-fashioned with the sole focus on academic achievement.

The issue now is that there has been an ever-widening skills gap between what schools are teaching and what the economy actually needs. The problems exist in myriad aspects ranging from social disadvantage, poverty, funding, facilities, teaching methods, assessing and testing,... Thus the failure of students’ grades not only the fault of the students but also that of the educational system.

To transform the whole big system, it’s urgent to reconsider the purpose of education that was implemented at the first place for the first time. It takes time and the collective involvement of all agents from policy-makers to individuals in a society. Therefore, many people are discouraged from simply thinking about or especially involving in a journey to make changes to education.

I care about this aspect as I gradually see the truly importance of education on the process of developing potential of each citizen in this world. Education is supposed to discover, motivate and lift up the strengths of different types of intelligence and abilities rather than oppressing the creativity and freedom of expression of learners or building such huge pressure of schoolwork and high rate of suicide among the youth. I myself had never thought or been aware about the issues of education over 12 years before university. I did not wonder was there any other purpose of going to school but getting into a prestigious university to gain a high status in society and meet the expectations of my parents. I did not have the chance to learn about such essential skills for the demanding jobs market like presentation, teamwork or critical thinking... Thus I hardly questioned the teachers what should be our motivation to go to school or how the worldwide schools were working. I had little wonder what I would apply super-complicated knowledge of natural science subjects in later life and had to accept the truth and moved on.

Ever since joining in different social work in a bustling city of Vietnam, I got to be concerned about the hot-debated issue: the effects of the current educational system. For the first time volunteering abroad, I saw how Thai government invests in the whole education system and reflected it about my own country. I realized I should do something in my community and be responsible to bring opportunities for children in my hometown who deserve to learn. Simply, the geographical aspect also can make difference in the development of children that is among rural and urban areas so I want to have a start-up in the future right in the village I grew up. Importantly, for changes happening, there must be a business model in order to ensure the sustainability of the influence and efficiency of the work, instead of a simple short-term voluntary project.

2 weeks teaching English and Hospitality in Ha Giang, Vietnam

This passion has grown bigger when I attended the Development Studies Course will 55 Scandinavian students who all consider learning as a life-long process and they have such strong opinions about everything. They all are exposed to such an advanced life with English and good infrastructure, healthcare, social insurance,... They have many options to make after high school graduation which is mostly about taking a gap year meanwhile Vietnamese children are expected to straight ahead follow the traditional route: study university and earn a stable job.

What does it mean by a stable job? Currently, it means having unsustainable skills for the future. The 3 months engagement did change me into a more proactive learner and a critical thinker, eventually led me to the riskiest decision ever- experiencing a gap year and switching my current major (International Business Economics into Social Entrepreneurship). I finally felt I should continue what I was incredibly engaging in including international studies, side-effects of economic growth, and I should belong to an educational environment where I could be myself and grow into a better version of myself where people respect the diversity and embrace the challenges and dream to become social change-makers.