The True Purpose of Education
My name is Edel Were. I grew up in Nairobi, Kenya in a typical middle class household with nothing too extraordinary expect one thing: the passion to read. My mother, a teacher in a public primary school in the city, ran our household by always highlighting the importance of education. However, education was not defined as the regular Monday-Friday activity you do in school. Education as I have known it, was constantly seeking knowledge in and out of the classroom. I was from an early age encouraged to read material from every topic imaginable; fiction, biographies, science-fiction, fairy tales, economics, political science, history and much more. From my reading, I started to, and was encouraged to question everything, and more importantly, push the boundaries of my thinking. Why are things the way they are? How can we make life better? What possibilities lie beyond my current understanding? Through authors and poets, creative reading opened up my imagination to the endless possibilities of life; tales of good versus evil, moral lessons, and facing our fears. Reading history allowed me to understand my past, my rights, the cost of my freedom and my place and value in society. While reading about the world events allowed me to understand why things are the way they are, and question why they can’t be better.
I strongly believe that reading has shaped me into the person I am. It has helped me to creatively solve problems, express myself, stand up for my rights; all because I have seen it being done through literature. I was also importantly able to discover my passions by exposing myself early on to different reading materials. This helped me cultivate self-drive as I would actively seek information and opportunities which interested me.
In Kenya and many African countries, the education system is not structured as a means to grow holistic human beings, but rather as a way to categorize people on perceived levels of intellect and eventually place them in a system of repetitive work streams. Not only does this limit the learning opportunities and skills development of many young people, it is not sustainable for the future of work; when jobs will require a deeper set of critical thinking skills. I believe creative reading is the first step to this, which will drive what I believe is the most important part of education — self-driven and continuous learning. That we should be able to learn remotely, affordably and on the subjects that interest us.
I’ve began championing this by personally supporting children in low-income areas in Nairobi to get access to creative learning material in the hopes that they too can create their own stories and find their paths. Also, through my work in Dalberg Global Development Advisors working on projects in education and youth employment, I have been able to understand some of the gaps that limit continuous education and up-skilling of young people in the continent. I want to do my part in implementing solutions for these challenges.
I hope that in my time in Denmark at the first ever UNLEASH LAB, I will meet inspiring and like-minded people who will help deepen my understanding of some of these issues. I also hope that through the incubation process, we can find collaborative ways to push for open and continuous learning that can equip young people with skills and suitable employment opportunities.
