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Education

Everyone has to learn as he grows up. Sometimes we learn by ourselves without help. A baby gradually finds out how he can open and close his hands. Throughout life, too, we learn many things by copying other people. Often we need help from other people in our learning. Parents are children's first teachers. Parents help their children learn to walk and talk.

Most parents have neither the time nor sufficient knowledge to teach their children everything they need to know, so pupils go to schools. In schools, teachers trained for their work arrange what and how the children learn. This is formal education.

Formal education has several stages. In the first stage children are taught to read, write and count. They work with hands and voices, learn to use their bodies and work together. They have to begin to understand right and wrong. From this stage they go on to learn more about themselves and the world in which they live, and while they do this they use the skills which their education has given them. These two stages of education usually take place in primary or elementary schools and may continue into the secondary schools. Then in secondary schools, pupils study various subjects like English, History, Geography, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science and foreign languages.

These subjects add to their knowledge of the world in which they live. Formal schooling often includes vocational training that is, training for jobs that the pupil may hold when he goes out into the world to work.

Institutions of higher education include junior colleges, liberal arts colleges, technical and professional schools, teachers colleges and universities. In higher education, most students study subjects that prepare them for the work they have chosen to do.

The desire to learn and understand makes many adults want to continue to study. This they do by reading or by attending classes after work.