Do People Need Formal Education to Be Successful

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INTRODUCTION

Education is the ticket to the future, and those who train for it today will own tomorrow are

words proclaimed by the minister and human right activist Malcolm X. Such wisdom and

profound quotes from numerous leaders, teachers, philosophers have bombarded the

consciousness of children and later students as they traverse different stages of life. Education

can be described as the transmission of accumulated knowledge and values, a long-term process

that results in significant change in a person’s life or behavior.

Education is classified into three distinct types mainly, formal, non-formal, and informal

education. Formal education is a structured and methodical system of learning that takes place

under the premise of a school. This type of education is orderly as learning follows an organized

and strict format where it has a syllabus that is subject-oriented. It is hierarchical in nature and

advancement into a higher class is based on aptitude measured by a standardized grading system.

Informal education generally is the type of education that occurs outside a structured syllabus. It

is propagated utilizing conversation, exploration and experiences in life. Unlike formal learning,

informal learning is a life-long process that is independent of location and a tutor requires no

accreditation. Non-formal education includes basic literacy training for adults and other

equivalents. Fitness-based programs, boy scout associations, swimming lessons all fall under this

category. This form of education has no age limit, structured and it is mainly practical where

aptitude is measured in skillfulness and certificates and other awards are not essential.

Unlike the other two classifications of education, 25% of the adult population worldwide have

received some formal education while 99% of the total population of North America has been

through school. Consequently, the successes of North America and Europe can be associated
with the presence of a robust system of education hence asserting the significance of formal

education.

FORMAL EDUCATION AND SUCCESS

The history of civilization which has been renowned to be in tandem with literary development

has been traced back to North Africa and Mesopotamia to around 3000 BCE. In ancient Egypt,

priests and scribes formed part of a powerful elite and were responsible for disseminating and

supervising learning and learning institutions. They taught subjects like medicine, arithmetic,

astronomy, and geometry, but trade skills like architecture, engineering, and sculpting were

passed down outside of formal education. Presently in the USA, formal education lasts 12 years,

from the age of 12 to approximately the age of 18. However, most states end compulsory

schooling at the age of 16; the remaining states mandate students to attend school until they are

17 or 18. In the United States, all children have free access to public schools.

The definition of success is as diverse as individual persons with definitions slightly divergent

depending on the environment, culture, traditions, and generation. Earl Nightingale described

success as the progressive realization of a worthy ideal, a journey that begins from goal-setting

and ends in goal-fulfillment. Robin Sharma, a renowned leadership expert, and speaker dissected

the nature of success into eight elements namely, career success, inner success, physical success,

family success, economic success, community success, adventure success, and impact success.

For success to be holistic it ought to satisfy the majority of the forms described above.
Formal Education impact on Career Success

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune” is a quote by

the late American entrepreneur Jim Rohn. This attests to the fact that formal education is the

precursor to lifelong learning by imparting fundamental knowledge and critical thinking skills.

This system was designed to carve up a career path for most students by the employment of

tutors specialized in the art and science of education, grading, and advising on possible career

paths based on strengths. Formal educations produce the necessary human resource which the

most valuable resource, whether directly or indirectly. Nations have historically relied on the

health, power, and basic skills of their workers to produce products and services for consumption

and trade. Because of the advancement of complex institutions and knowledge requirements, as

well as the implementation of sophisticated machines and technology, economic development

and welfare improvements are becoming increasingly dependent on the overall population's level

of literacy and educational attainment.  Formal schooling and training will improve the

population's proclivity to learn certain skills.

Formal Education as an Agent for Social Change

Formal education starts during a child’s formative years and proceeds for the next twelve years

into young adulthood. As a result, learning eliminates ignorance at the personal level where

children are taught values that are beneficial to the general society and their culture, from an

early age. This is the most powerful way of introducing social change because, unless they are

mentally challenged, children never easily forget what they are taught at a young age.
Historically, African American slaves were not taught how to read which kept them in physical

and mental chains for centuries. The early revolutionaries of the black community like Booker T.

Washington, human rights activist Marcus Garvey had all been through the formal education

system trained in elite universities at the time.

Formal Education improves Wellbeing

Research sponsored by the ESRC's Secondary Data Analysis Initiative looked into the

psychological effects of educational disparities. This is the first research to look at the intensity

and durability of the "education effect" on several outcomes over time. It was observed that

higher levels of education are related to higher levels of political involvement, social trust,

health, and wellbeing, as well as lower levels of political cynicism and hostile attitudes towards

other races. Over time, these results were found to be relatively stable however the majority of

education's beneficial outcomes are attributed to the advantages of obtaining a university

education.

In another research, the number of years spent in formal education has been linked to cognitive

function during an individual’s adulthood which predicts a lower risk of dementia later in life.

CONCLUSION

Linking formal education and success gives rise to a lot of other factors that come to play, for

instance, the environment, the intellectual capacity of an individual, motivation, and other social

and cultural issues. These factors have been reported to influence achievement and success more

than school factors. Acceptably, the formal education system has its undoing as any system is

prone to abuse. This system has been used to promote social and economic classism and oversee

the massive indoctrination of a populace. Recently, the monetization of education has left plenty
of students jobless and sunk in debt. Nonetheless, these will not take away from the fact that

modern civilization is rooted in this system.

Most of the specialized professions that are available require proper documentation of proof of

one’s abilities to perform a task which comes in the form of certificates and licenses. In addition

to providing security, formal education guarantees success in specialized fields if an individual

meets the criteria. As education is a life-long endeavor, other forms of education (both formal

and informal) must be treated as interacting modes rather than distinct ones which would

increase the chances of success.

A common misconception that has arisen in the West has been demonizing formal education.

There is a widespread myth that formal education was implemented to perfect life, eliminate

poverty, solve social problems, and eradicate inequity in society. On one hand, education is a

significant arbitrating variable between intellect and social history, and achievement and career

on the other. Without formal education, there is no literacy and without literacy, information

cannot be imparted.
REFERENCES

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/11/about-one-fifth-of-adults-globally-have-no-

formal-schooling/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/education/Education-in-the-earliest-civilizations

DAWSON, WARREN R. "Education in Ancient Egypt." Science Progress in the Twentieth

Century (1919-1933) 20.77 (1925): 109-119.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7425377/

Holmes, Mark. “Formal Education and Its Effect on Academic Achievement.” Canadian Journal

of Education / Revue Canadienne De L'éducation, vol. 3, no. 3, 1978, pp. 55–70. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/1494500. Accessed 1 Apr. 2021.

La Belle, Thomas J. "Formal, nonformal and informal education: A holistic perspective on

lifelong learning." International review of education 28.2 (1982): 159-175.

https://isss.umn.edu/publications/USEducation/2.pdf

https://www.ilo.org/ilostat-files/Documents/description_EDU_EN.pdf

https://www.nightingale.com/articles/the-strangest-secret/

https://esrc.ukri.org/news-events-and-publications/evidence-briefings/the-wellbeing-effect-of-