Education

 

Education is a purposeful activity aimed at achieving certain goals, such as imparting knowledge or promoting skills and character traits. These goals may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty.

There are three basic types of education.

 Formal

 Informal

 Informal.

Formal education

Formal education or formal learning usually takes place on the premises of a school where one can learn basic, academic, or business skills. Young children often attend nursery school or kindergarten, but formal education often begins in primary school and continues through secondary school.

Postsecondary education (or higher education) is usually at a college or university that may award an academic degree. It is associated with a certain stage and is provided according to a certain set of rules and regulations.

Formal education is provided by specially qualified teachers who are expected to be efficient in the art of teaching. He also follows strict discipline. Both the student and the teacher are aware of the facts and are involved in the educational process.

Examples of formal education    

1: Learning in the classroom

2: Classification/certification, college, and university degrees

3: Planned teaching of various subjects with proper syllabi acquired by attending the institution.

4: Characteristics of formal education

5: Formal education is structured hierarchically.

6: It is planned and thought out.

7: Scheduled fees are paid regularly.

8: It has a chronological sorting system.

9: It has a syllabus and is subject-oriented. The syllabus has to be covered in a certain period of time.

10: The child is taught by the teachers

Advantages of formal education:

* Organized educational model and current course content.

* Students gain knowledge from trained and professional teachers.

* A structured and systematic learning process.

* Mid-term and final assessments are provided for students to progress to the next phase of learning.

* Institutions are organized managerially and physically.

* It leads to a formally recognized certificate.

* Easy access to jobs.

Disadvantages of formal education:

* Sometimes brilliant students get bored due to the long wait for the end of the academic session to advance to the next stage

* The possibility of developing bad habits can be alarming due to the presence of both good and bad students in the classroom

* Waste of time because some lazy students may not learn properly despite the motivation of professional trainers.

* Some unprofessional and substandard education systems can cause waste students' time and money, which leads to disappointment in formal education and forces them to go to non-formal education.

* Expensive and rigid education compared to other forms of learning

Informal education

Informal education might be a parent teaching a child to cook or ride a bicycle. 

                     

People can also get informal education by reading many books from the library or educational websites.

Non-formal education is when you don't study in school and don't use any specific learning method. There is no conscious effort involved in this type of education. It is neither pre-planned nor intentional. It can be learned at a market, in a hotel or at home.

Unlike formal education, non-formal education is not provided by an institution such as a school or college. Non-formal education is not provided according to any fixed timetable. No set curriculum is required. Non-formal learning consists of experience and real life in a family or community.

Examples of Informal education

1: Teach the child some basics like number signs.

2: Someone who is learning their mother tongue

3: Spontaneous type of learning "if a person standing in a bank learns from someone about opening and maintaining a bank account".

4: Characteristics of non-formal education

5: It is independent of border walls.

6: It does not have a clearly defined outline.

7: It is not pre-planned and has no schedule.

8: No fees are required because informal education is gained through daily experience and learning new things.

9: It is a natural lifelong process.

10: Certificates/degrees are not involved and one does not have the stress of learning new things.

11: You can get it from any source like media, life experience, friends, family, etc.

Advantages of Informal education

* A more natural learning process because you can learn anywhere and anytime from your everyday experience.

* It includes activities such as individual and personal research on a topic of interest, using books, libraries, social media, the Internet, or getting help from informal tutors.

* It uses different techniques.

* No specific time span.

* Less expensive and time-efficient learning process.

* There is no need to hire experts as most professionals may be willing to share their valuable knowledge with students/the public through social media and the internet.

* Students can get the necessary information from books, television, radio, or talking to their friends/family members.

Disadvantages of Informal education

* Information obtained from the internet, social media, television, radio, or conversations with friends/family can lead to misinformation.

* The techniques used may not be appropriate.

* No proper schedule/time frame.

* Unpredictable results that are just a waste of time.

* Lack of confidence in the student.

* Lack of discipline, attitude, and good habits.

Non-formal education

Non-formal education includes basic adult education, adult literacy education, or preparation for school equivalency.

In non-formal education, someone (who is not in school) can learn literacy, other basic skills, or work skills.

Other options include home education, individualized learning (such as programmed learning), distance learning, and computer-assisted learning.

Non-formal education is delivered consciously, deliberately and systematically. It should be organized for a homogeneous group. Non-formal education should be programmed to serve the needs of the identified group. This will require flexibility in curriculum design and assessment scheme.

Examples of non-formal education

* Boy Scouts and Girl Guides develop some sports programs, for example, swimming falls under non-formal education.

* Fitness programs.

* Community-based adult education courses.

* Free adult education courses developed by an organization.

* Characteristics of non-formal education

* Non-formal education is planned and takes place outside the school system.

* The timetable and syllabus can be adjusted.

* In contrast to theoretical formal education, this is practical and professional education.

* Non-formal education has no age limit.

* Fees or certificates may or may not be required.

* It can be a full-time or part-time study and one can earn and learn together.

* It involves learning professional skills.

Advantages of non-formal education

* Practical and professional training.

* Naturally growing brains don't wait for the system to change.

* Literacy with growing skills in which self-learning is valued.

* Flexibility in age, curriculum, and time.

* An open education system in which both the public and private sectors are involved in the process.

* There is no need to perform regular tests.

Disadvantages of non-formal education

* Participant attendance is inconsistent.

* Sometimes it is just a waste of time as there is no need to take the exam regularly and no degree/diploma is awarded at the end of the training.

* Basic reading and writing skills are essential for learning.

* No professional and trained teachers.

* Students may not have full confidence like regular students.

* Some institutes provide fake certification through online courses just for the sake of earning.