Education

I used to be a teacher. And I know that the ideal situation is when pupils attend school to learn. This may seem an obvious reason, but in practice it is different. This is true at least in the Western world, but I guess that kids are kids, youngsters are youngsters, anywhere in the world!

Of course, a lot of them do work and learn and succeed. Some of them are encouraged by their parents to succeed so that they can earn their own living. Others may have had no choice in the matter of the education they received. But in the pursuit of livelihood, it seems that in general the most important reason for obtaining an education is taking a back seat!

Education gives us knowledge to understand the world, to understand how to live together, to know what is going on… we can lose all our belongings in a fire, a war … But what we learnt belongs to us, so we have to take care of it. I once heard an Auschwitz-survivor who said: ‘they took everything but my mind; my thinking and my knowledge remained with me’ and in this sentence you can find the ultimate reasons to learn, to educate oneself!

The Purpose of Education

Of course, the systems of education are very different throughout the world. And so is the content of what is learnt and what is taught in the context of the family or in the school environment. In some parts of the world children do not even learn to write or read properly; in other parts children have all the facilities. But even there a lot of them do not succeed, and we can still find people who are not capable of distinguishing facts from fiction, who are unable to use critical intelligence in their daily lives.

As Humanists we should keep in mind that every child has the right to go to school, to learn about society, about the origins of the world, about life, about differences between people, and about tolerance. We do have the obligation to create and sustain school systems where pupils are prepared to take up responsibilities for their own lives, and in everything they do.

Pupils can do this only if they learn well. Children are curious about the world, about life, about society: we have to teach them sciences so that they know that thunder and lightning is not a divine punishment; that the myths and stories about the origins of life are jewels in the history of human culture, trying to explain what was not known at the time, but no more than that. But we have to teach them practical skills: so they can read and understand contracts, laws, … as otherwise we wouldn’t know how to live with others, we wouldn’t know how to react if we disagree.

A Humanist Education

A Humanist education will teach us how to respect others, how we have to listen to others, how we have to tolerate different opinions. It will help us understand how humans are part of a bigger world and therefore help us understand why we should respect nature and not destroy it for commercial reasons. Education means that we learn how to discuss, how to disagree, how to come to a compromise. It does not mean that we have to learn by heart the so-called holy texts, whatever their origins are! To make children recite by heart the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is stupid, and certainly so when they are punished if they make mistakes.

Sciences are a valuable tool in the struggle against witchcraft and superstition. It would be good to focus on this and to look for good didactic methods to teach them. The theories are important of course, but more important is the practice. And one should always remember to explain that science is a never-ending story, a continuing evolution …

There is no necessity for all of us to become physicians, biologists, chemists, engineers … It would already be a real progress if education provided children all over the world with the intellectual tools to understand the difference between illusion and reality! I do respect people who find comfort in a religion as long as they do not tell the others that their religion is the only truth, or that theirs is the only way of living a dignified life. It is not wrong to be amazed by the complexity of the world, nor to admire it. All we have to do is to encourage the curiosity to explore what is behind…

To learn about and understand the importance of learning is of the highest importance for Humanists. This is so because education is not enough – think of the religious schools where creationism is taught, or the Quranic schools where boys recite verses by heart in a language unknown by them. Our education should be to create open minds. We should never forget the wise saying: ‘Minds are like parachutes, they only function when open’.

It is important to start with the young minds of the children. We must encourage them to explore. We must give them the tools, and we must teach them the importance of looking for and handling complex answers! Thank You!

I would like to thank everyone who congratulated me on the occasion of being elected President of IHEU. Don’t forget that IHEU is YOU.

Sonja Eggerickx