Only the educated are free, – goes a famous quote of Epictetus, an ancient Roman philosopher. I totally agree with this expression. I would only add that to be free the one needs to be healthy as well. I think anybody will share my opinion. Indeed, ill or poorly educated people will hardly feel themselves free and happy. Therefore, as a result many educated and healthy people can make strong, happy, and free nation. A large number of developed countries have already realized and embodied this thesis. However, in most of developing countries the situation is drastically different.
The distinctions between developed countries and the ones that are still developing are often very significant. The causes of such differences include diverse factors, such as historical, economical, political, social, and many more.
The distinctions include various aspects, however the fields that diverse most soundly are health and education. Healthcare and educational systems are the major factors influencing the process of social development and as the result the overall development of entire country in general. The reason for central roles of health and education in society development can be rather easily explained. With simple words it may be described as follows. The development of country entirely depends on people who will implement the changes needed. If a person has any problems with health he will never complete any task sufficiently. Thus, in order to succeed in development the nation involved must be healthy. However being healthy is not enough if the society is not educated.
Uneducated or poorly educated people have very few knowledge and skills and are unable to lead the country to the high level of development. Hence, well educated society is a necessary part of development process. Therefore, improvements in healthcare and educational systems must be the first steps of the developing countries in increase of development level.
Very often it is said that economic growth is a primary goal for such countries, and growing incomes will automatically bring improvement in health and education. However, according to the recent surveys and researches of respected scientists in the fields of sociology, economics, politics, and healthcare, economic growth would rather be a result of improvements in educational and healthcare systems in developing countries. These vital fields influence soundly all the other spheres of life within a country, including economy. Hence, building healthy and well-educated society will very soon result in higher productivity, improved saving policy, human capital development, increase in investments, demographic improvement, and many other factors that help build mature economic system.
Social development in many poor countries very often demands more changes outside health and education sector. For instance, it is difficult to solve educational problems in the countries where child labor and gender bias are still relevant. In such cases the national policies must be implemented to eliminate these problems. Child labor basically results in low education level of entire nation. In some countries children would themselves rather work and earn some money for food than lose their time studying in school and college. This problem may be stopped by taking radical measures so that there will be no necessity for children to work and feed themselves. The only effective way to solve the problem of children labor is implementing appropriate social programs headed to children’s education. Gender bias is another barrier for social and educational improvements in developing countries. The stereotypes that result in gender inequality prevent educational development of women. Some professions and specializations are closed for women. To solve this problem the appropriate national policies must be involved to make rights and opportunities for education equal for both genders.
The fields of education and health are put under the spotlight in any society. Playing the central role in social development, these aspects must be addressed with special attention in the developing countries. Healthcare and educational systems often intersect with other branches of social life.
However only they are vitally necessary hence determining for any country’s development level. As it was already said above, only the healthy and educated are free. Therefore, main step in building strong and free nation should be raising healthy, well-educated and as a result happy people.
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