Education and Economic Growth in Trinidad and Tobago

Education is generally seen as a formal process of instruction, based on a theory of teaching, to impart formal knowledge to one or more students (Cogburn, n.d.). Henceforth, individuals seek to acquire some form of schooling from pre-school through secondary school while others may go on to tertiary to better him or her in some way. A definition of education according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is that education is “a process of teaching, training and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills.” Where education in the common parlance has become a process of adding layers of one’s store of knowledge, the true aim of education is to call forth that which is essential to the individual (White, 2006). Furthermore, and according to Coombs and Ahmed 1974, education is a continuing process, spanning the years from earliest infancy through adulthood and necessarily involving a great variety of methods and sources. Education also involves inculcating in students distinct bits of knowledge; therefore education is an additive process (White, 2006). It adds to an individual as well as it adds to a country through the individuals who are and would have been or are being educated. According to a study conducted by Olaniyan and Okemakinde 2008, education creates improved citizens and helps to upgrade the general standard of living in a society. Furthermore, education plays a key role in the ability of a developing country to absorb modern technology and to develop the capacity for self-sustaining growth and development (Todaro and Smith, 2012).

Additionally, and according to Coombs and Ahmed 1974, they are three modes of education, that is, there is the formal education, non-for...

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...g the necessary skills, the knowledge and the training to produce graduates who are capable of entering the labor force as an asset to the organization and the country as a whole.

Finally, research has shown that basic education is paramount to a nation’s ability to develop and achieve economic development and sustainability targets. Once these targets are identified, a country will need to re-examine its education curricula at all levels, that is, pre-school to tertiary education. Also, as a government develop policies within their countries they should ensure that there is an interconnection between the environment, economy, and social structures and that they become an integral part of formal education, starting with kindergarten and continuing through primary and secondary school and then on through training at the college, university and professional levels.