Education is important, that’s what our parents told us. With good education, we will be able to get a good job, followed by a decent salary, and by consequence a decently good life. How well you study determines how successful you are in life. That’s what our parents told us. That’s what society propagates, to entice people to spend big sums of money to get a good education. A university degree is important (do read this link first before this article, as this is an expansion of it), even though you may not use what you have learnt in your work or even later in life.
This post is mainly for students and parents whose children are still studying.
You Will Almost Never Use What You Have Learnt In School
There are many supposedly educated people from my generation and onwards who doubt the usefulness of education. You probably would have heard someone said they have never use the trigonometry which they learnt in actual life. Whatever knowledge they have on solving quadratic equations, on understanding the structure of an atom, of learning the Bernoulli’s principle have absolutely no impact on their life. All of that is true to a large extent, and yet, education is still important.
Many of us will never work in a job related to our field of study, except of course those highly specialised fields such as medicine, research, law etc. However, an education will lead you to a university degree, which will open up more opportunities for you in your careers, even if what you do has nothing related to what you studied. In this era of mass production, many of us are just fanciful general workers wearing a suit and tie. But to get that job, you need a certification to prove you have advanced a certain level in your education.
The Fair Education System
Examinations, a test of what you have learnt in school, the result of which is an indicator to your academic capabilities as well as what you have gained throughout your education. In the past, scholars in China need to travel for weeks and months to the capital for the imperial examinations, held once every few years. Do note that scholars in this case refers to a learned person (people were mostly illiterate in the past). The success of a scholar in the imperial examinations would mean a position in the government, which are coveted positions as they bring not only power, but also fame and wealth.
These imperial examinations are attended by thousands or tens of thousands of candidates, yet only approximately 3-6% of candidates are successful. These imperial examinations were firstly plagued by corruption, where the rich and powerful were guaranteed a position while the remaining few slots were fought over by the many peasants. In those days, these examinations were far from being fair, yet many still harbour hopes of securing some form of success.
Fast forward to today, while the rich has the capabilities to hire a private tuition teacher, the examinations itself is fair. In fact, it is the fairest form of competition one may have in his entire life. Out of the school and into the working world, one will realise nothing is fair. It does not matter if you are more competent or more experienced, there is always the nephew of a manager who gets the promotion, the pretty office lady whom the boss favours over you, the young sunshine boy whose words out of his ass are pleasing to the boss.
The education you have, and the national examinations you have before graduating, are about the fairest thing that will happen to you in your entire life. It is the first and fairest thing you have in your life where your talent and hard work are reflected in scores which measure your capabilities. Yes there are many arguments that goes results is not everything (I agree), and that there are talents which are not measured in the subjects taught in school (I agree too). But unless you have exceptional abilities or extraordinary family background, this is what you got. Our system is limited, but it still is the closest thing to a fair competition you will ever have.
Education Translates To Efficiency In Earning Power
With the results of our education, we move on to society and become a corporate slave. Almost all of us are corporate slaves. But let’s be truthful to ourselves, all jobs are not made equal. All legal, honest work is respectable, but they are not equal. A road sweeper is a respectable job, but it is not equal to a job of perhaps, a hated insurance company CEO who risks getting shot to death. The very obvious difference is the earning power. More specifically, the efficiency of exchanging time and labour for money.
A road sweeper may earn $10 per hour, a private tutor $50 per hour, a lawyer $500 per hour and so on. Excluding factors such as power, reputation, respect and status, just the money alone is proof that all jobs are not made equal. Yes, the road sweeper and the lawyer are still slaves to capitalism. They still have to take shit from their bosses or clients. They still have to work hard and lose sleep sometimes, and wonder why is money so damn difficult to earn. But for an hour of time, labour and nonsense from the boss, different people yield different rewards.
Study, get a good result, and you may be a lawyer earning $500 per hour. Skip your classes, make a mockery out of your examinations, and you may find yourself sweeping the floors at $10 per hour. You will not use your trigonometry, and I am pretty sure you will forget the structure of an atom, but all these things determine the path you will take in the future. Education opens up possibilities. Possibilities which can make your life far easier in the future, without which, you will be the slave among slaves.
Conclusion
Such is life. Understand the rules of the game, make use of the rules while you play, and emerge a winner. Afterall, examinations is the fairest game you will ever have in your life. Nothing in the game of life comes close to examinations at being fair.
Note: Parents should understand that results is indeed not everything. There is no need to squeeze every last drop of money to send children to every available private tuition classes. We have used an extreme example in the cost of education to illustrate that there may be better uses for the money as long as the child gets a decent education. Students should also understand that working hard out of their own will, while balancing play and rest, is for their own sake.
