he word ‘educated’ is used to describe different people depending on the circumstance or the display of knowledge. In the real essence of it what does it mean to be educated or what does education really mean? I am not going to try to define these terms but I will like to explain what I think education should do for a society.

Some days to the last World Literacy Day I stumbled on one of my old write-ups (it was never published) but it re-awakened my mind to the huge challenges that confront our educational system today. It is not about the number of children out of school , it is not about building more structures , it is a about what I call the fundamental essence of education: which is to positively transform a society.

The theme of the last World Literacy Day (September 8) is ‘Literacy and Sustainable Development’. It is important to note that education is directly linked to development across all sectors and if we must ensure continuous growth in all development efforts we must approach education from a different perspective. Government, Corporate sector, individuals, civil society and multilateral organization must understand that they all have a great role to play in ensuring that education translates into development.