Getting yourself educated…
Of all the plays that I have studied this semester, the one that really leaves an impact on me is Willy Russell’s “Educating Rita”. It is humorous and entertaining in its own way and yet meaningful. The questions asked frequently by Rita are just like having my voice recorded and was played over and over again in my mind. What is it like to be educated? Can education change your life? Can you develop your character through education? Is education about having qualification only?
Rita has decided to enter the Open University and there she is lucky enough to meet Frank who has quenched her thirst with knowledge she needs. Interestingly not only that, Frank too has learnt a lot from Rita despite her lack of “education” compared to him who is a professor in a university.
What about me? Why am I here in University Putra Malaysia, leaving my kids with my mom and dad? Is it everything about getting a higher pay when you have a higher education? People believe that as an educated person, you are placed in a higher level in your society. Therefore, you are expected when you leave the university, you have become a more mature human being racially, culturally, educationally, socially, individually and spiritually more sensitive in order for you to participate successfully in the genuine human community in the genuine world. But getting a high post with a higher pay are just an additional to being educated.
There is more than that to education. Personally I feel that the real and true meaning of education is to awaken oneself. It is a way to improve to be a better self. The most important outcome of higher education is what kind of person you have become. And for Rita, being educated means having options and choices, the rights for women that have always been denied by the society!
Rita has decided to enter the Open University and there she is lucky enough to meet Frank who has quenched her thirst with knowledge she needs. Interestingly not only that, Frank too has learnt a lot from Rita despite her lack of “education” compared to him who is a professor in a university.
What about me? Why am I here in University Putra Malaysia, leaving my kids with my mom and dad? Is it everything about getting a higher pay when you have a higher education? People believe that as an educated person, you are placed in a higher level in your society. Therefore, you are expected when you leave the university, you have become a more mature human being racially, culturally, educationally, socially, individually and spiritually more sensitive in order for you to participate successfully in the genuine human community in the genuine world. But getting a high post with a higher pay are just an additional to being educated.
There is more than that to education. Personally I feel that the real and true meaning of education is to awaken oneself. It is a way to improve to be a better self. The most important outcome of higher education is what kind of person you have become. And for Rita, being educated means having options and choices, the rights for women that have always been denied by the society!
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