The 21st century has become a synonym for modernity, advancement, breakthroughs and technology. The era has seen countless changes and transformations which have changed the course of the world. Among all other aspects, education was the one which saw the most massive changes and transformations as it was completely revamped and customized. Actually, it was education as a component which changed the world in the 20th century.
Right from school education to higher education, students now enjoy a more modern and transformed approach in studies.
Education became accessible
Before the 20th century, education was a privilege which was limited to the elite and the rich. Many countries lacked in educational resources and the few that were available to them were not accessible to the masses. In the late 1990’s and the beginning of the 21st century, efforts were started to make education accessible to all.
Organizations such as the United Nations along with many NGOs and governments started special drives and programs to spread education, especially in under developed and developed countries.
Education was made easy
The 20th century also saw the advent and advancement of technology due to which all aspects of human life saw a massive transformation. The new technologies developed new ways to decrease geographical distances. They brought new devices and methods to make education easier and interesting to acquire even with less financial resources.
New resources
Technology blessed education with thousands of new tools. Recording knowledge became a much easier and less time consuming activity and transportation of massive data and information became as easy as carrying a feather. The World Wide Web further enhanced this and made it possible to connect to huge amounts of data from anywhere by anyone.
New fields of study were discovered
Thanks to the newly attained boon of technology, new portals opened for research because of which new studies were discovered. In the last few years, education branched into hundreds of new streams. This further fuelled the advancement of technology and it moved forward with increased speed.
Along with other aspects such as economy, the most important changes came in the health sector as the study of medicine advanced and benefitted everyone.
More career options
The newly discovered fields of knowledge combined with increasing and diversifying businesses created new professions and fuelled new jobs. Students and professionals got a chance to pursue better jobs and explore more careers which matched their interests and aptitudes.
The United Nations started the famous Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) in 2000 along with 70 other nations. One of the 6 goals stated that- one was to provide free and compulsory education for all. Since then, secondary education has considerably spread across many countries and regions where children earlier didn’t have access to even secondary education. According to statistics presented by United Nations, 70 countries have increased their public spending on education. The statistics also states that the number of secondary students has increased more than four times the increase in the number of primary students. New concepts and methods are being tried to spread education and special care and efforts are being made to ensure that girls don’t remain outside the education circle.
However, as impressive as these figures are, challenges still remain in the universalization of education. There are still more than 37 million children out of school and 55% among them are girls. Wars and invasions in certain countries have also affected the process of spreading education. A more practical and united approach is needed to overcome these challenges so that the world sees an era where all its inhabitants are literate and educated.