The Importance of Education for Sustainability, Innovation, and Regeneration
Education is a key pillar in the development and growth of a nation. A country’s literacy rate highlights the level of sustainability the nation possess in the future. Education is the main driver for a better tomorrow. The country Australia, gives education, immense importance and thus, Australia has a stable literacy environment of approximately 99%. This signifies that for the next 20 to 30 years of education in Australia has and will play a crucial role in future sustainability, innovation, and regeneration. Education is crucial for a nation’s future sustainability as it helps in the development of a better future. It is through education that a nation will attain skilled labor. With education, the level of innovation and regeneration also increases. An educated mind utilizes knowledge and the latest advancement uses them with a high level of innovation and focuses on building a sustainable environment for a nation. In the same way, education is paramount in any nation in developing better-skilled labor, on whom a nation’s future truly relies.
According to Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the approach of education for sustainability aims at educating the people of Australia and transforming them into knowledgeable and skilled people, who possess the world-views along with the values that encourage them to practice more sustainable patterns (ACARA, 2015). Some of the various certainties associated with education are –
Education for economic development of a country.
The contribution of education in the economic development of a country is massive both today and tomorrow. The new improved methods of education in Australia, especially the immense emphasizes that is laid on early childhood development, provides an assurance to the country that the future of Australian is sustainable and is in skilled hands. It is through these skilled and more developed and knowledgeable brains that will definitely help in offering the country with higher economic development (Ferris AC, 2018).
Sustainable development goals.
According to the 2030 agendas of Australia and the aligned sustainable development goals that are formulated around education signifies that the nation also knows the significance of education in sustainable development today and in 2030. The seventeen sustainable development goals cover all the different aspects that are essential for future sustainable development and some of the goals are –
- Zero hunger.
- No poverty.
- Quality education (Cleland, Durning and Driessen, 2018).
- Economic growth through decent work.
- Having a responsible production and consumption.
- Innovation through education
Education also helps in increasing the level of innovation in Australia. For this, the new additions in the education system that are being made due to the advancement in technology have elevated the level of innovation for today and tomorrow. The Australia innovation plan is in sync with global innovations. The Australian 2030 plan “Prosperity through Innovation”, have around thirty recommendations that the nation has to implement for elevating the level of innovation in the country. The first one focuses on education and for better development of the nation and to fulfill the various targets of the 2030 agenda, the education industry has to implement disruptive innovation for the overall development of the country. This has been suggested as the education system has to increase its standard with the passing and changing times and according to the current circumstances the country requires disruptive innovation for better sustainability and regeneration (Australian Government, Department of Industry, Innovation, & Science, 2017).
Approach to Education for Sustainability in Australia
Education and regeneration.
Sustainability is possible only if there is continuous and effective regeneration. Also, through regeneration, the level of innovation also increases. So, all the three aspects sustainability, innovation, and regeneration are interlinked. In the same way, education is also interlinked with all these different aspects of Australia. The nation’s approach for 2030 and the various tactics highlights the fact that education controls the key to all these different developments essential for Australia. The contribution of technology in the process of regeneration in the current times is immense. Also, the continuous improvements made in the field of technology help in better sustainability, innovation, and regeneration. The digitalization of the learning process through e-learning and platforms like Moodle has helped in better regeneration in the field of education to fulfill the goals of Australia 2030 (Christian Wahl, 2016).
Some of the aspects associated with education that are affecting the sustainability, innovation and regeneration goals in Australia are –
Employer Alignment.
The university enrolments in Australia are at the highest in the current times. But there is a consequence attached to this aspect, which is the change in the differentiation methods of company’s between employees. According to the latest approaches of the companies, job candidates are not judged on their degrees. In this attempt, companies like Ernst & Young and Google do not ask the candidate for bachelor’s degrees. To counter attack, this new trend in the business world, universities have started aligning their education methods according to the employer’s needs. This approach will reduce the knowledge level of the students that now will be secluded. This will affect the level of sustainability, innovation, and regeneration in Australia.
The increasing cost of education(Saunders, 2018).
The cost of education is also increasing with the changing times. Though the number of university enrolments is increasing, with the increasing cost, soon it will experience a massive fall due to the unavailability of financial resources (Berkley and Mullen, 2017). This will also affect the sustainable development goals of Australia. Though Australia has maintained a literacy rate of 99% for years, with the changes in the education charges, there will be an increase in the college and school dropouts (Halisçelik and Soytas, 2019).
The contribution of education in the economic, cultural, social, intellectual, and environmental development is huge. Some of the key drivers of education in the current circumstances are –
Having a secure and peaceful life.
Education’s Contribution to Economic Development
The education system has witnessed a huge change in recent times. The main drivers of education are the opportunity to have a secured life. The main reason for the increase in university enrolment is the chance to have a secured future. Education is the means through which people can attain a dignified job and can earn an appropriate income. This, also, helps people to stay above the poverty line. The availability of adequate financial resources provides a person with a solid assurance for the future. (Piracha, 2010)
The chance to understand the world in a better and deeper way.
Through education, people acquire the skills to understand the world in a much better way. Knowledge is the key, today and tomorrow. A knowledgeable person has the potential to see the world from a more refined perspective and also to foresee issues that may arise in the future (Agbedahin, 2019). In the current circumstances, it is necessary for each person to have knowledge about different things new and old. Also, a person has to keep updating with any new additions. This continuous process of learning in inculcated in a person only through education. Education works as an encouraging and supporting agent that builds a zeal in a person to understand the different aspects in a better way (Sustainable Development Solutions Development, 2018).
A working theory is developed with the help of three aspects that is, knowledge, interactions, and experiences. The working theory of education is formulated through the collaboration of old and new methods. In Australia, there are different trends that have shaped the education system and the current new additions are making prominent changes. These key methods and trends are formulated with the aim of increasing sustainability, innovation, and regeneration in the country. For ages, the Australian education system has emphasized on the early childhood education. They have separate organizations and frameworks that are specially built for providing better learning to the students. In recent times, the new addition made to this learning is increasing the level of parent participation in the learning process of their kids. And the latest trends that have developed a better platform for education is e-learning. The various education portal of different universities has helped in increasing the student and teacher relationship for better learning. These platforms also provide the students with the opportunity to attain diverse and massive information on a single topic. This has helped in broadening the knowledge of students. Thus, these new and old methods of learning have formulated the current working theory of education, which will help in better sustainability, innovation and generation in Australia (Evzrezov and Mayer, 2014).
Sustainable Development Goals and Education in Australia
After analyzing the different certainties attached to education along with the uncertainties, this can be stated that the development of a nation is built around its education system and practices. The key drivers of education also highlighted the fact that the core reason for increasing enrolments is the chance of attaining a secured life. Also, the various goals stated by the Australian 2030 sustainable development goal team highlight the fact that education is the only method of continuous improvement and development.
Conclusion
Thus, finally, this can be concluded that for a better tomorrow, a nation has to build better educational practices for increasing sustainability, innovation, and regeneration. According to the current circumstances in the world, the future is built around technology and thus, it is crucial that educational approaches should incorporate it, along with each and every new addition.
References
ACARA (2015). What is Education for Sustainability?. [online] Getting Started with Sustainability in Schools. Available at: https://sustainabilityinschools.edu.au/what-is-efs [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
Agbedahin, A. (2019). Sustainable development, Education for Sustainable Development, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Emergence, efficacy, eminence, and future. Sustainable Development, 1(1), pp.20-50.
Australian Government, Department of Industry, Innovation, & Science (2017). Australia 2030: Prosperity through Innovation. [online] Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Available at: https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australia-2030-prosperity-through-innovation [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
Berkley, S. and Mullen, S. (2017). Education Success: Is Dropout A Raider?. Science Insights Education, 2017(2017), pp.1-5.
Christian Wahl, D. (2016). Education for meaningful sustainability and regeneration. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/education-for-meaningful-sustainability-and-regeneration-418941dd4c25 [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
Cleland, J., Durning, S. and Driessen, E. (2018). Medical education research: aligning design and research goals. Medical Journal of Australia, 208(11), pp.473-475.
Evzrezov, D. and Mayer, B. (2014). “Education 2030” – call the education system 1. Foresight of education – plan to create a “people of a one button”?. Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 1(1), pp.118-132.
Ferris AC, B. (2018). AUSTRALIA 2030: THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN OUR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL FUTURE. [online] www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/. Available at: https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/Media-and-Events/HIGHER-ED-ITION/Articles/2016-2017/Australia-2030–the-role-of-universities-in-our-economic-and-social-future [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
Halisçelik, E. and Soytas, M. (2019). Sustainable development from millennium 2015 to Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Sustainable Development, 1(1), pp.15-40.
Piracha, A. (2010). The NSW (Australia) Planning Reforms and their Implications for Planning Education and Natural and Built Environment. Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit, 25(3), pp.240-250.
Saunders, S. (2018). 4 higher education trends to watch out for in Australia. [online] Studiosity.com. Available at: https://www.studiosity.com/blog/4-higher-education-trends-to-watch-out-for-in-australia [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
Sustainable Development Solutions Development (2018). A new report tracks Australia’s progress on the SDGs | SDSN Australia, New Zealand and Pacific. [online] SDSN Australia, New Zealand and Pacific. Available at: https://ap-unsdsn.org/a-new-report-tracks-australias-progress-on-the-sdgs/ [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
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