EDUCATION AS MAN-POWER IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT



INTRODUCTION
Education is a systematic procedure for the transfer and transformation of culture, through formal or informal training of people in a society. It deals with the mental, physical, psychological and social development of the citizens in a given society. In general terms, education is the process of teaching and training of the child. It can also be described as the imparting or acquisition of skills for a particular trade or profession in which applicable methods are used.
According to Fafunwa (1983), education is all positive efforts, conscious and direct incidental and indirect, made by a given society to accomplish certain objectives that are considered desirable in terms of the individual's needs as well as the needs of the society where the programme is based. Education is a powerful instrument for the development of man and the society.

GOALS OF EDUCATION
Generally, the goal of education is manpower development, aimed at national growth and development. Growth is increase in size without scientific and technological advancement. Development means growth integrated with economic, scientific, political and home based technological expansion. Kindleberger and Herrick (1977), defines economic development to include improvements in material welfare, especially for persons with the lowest incomes; the eradication of mass poverty, illiteracy, disease and early death.
An economy that has productive employment among the working - age population rather than the situation of a privileges monitory and a correspondingly greater participation of broadly based groups in making decisions about the directions, economic and otherwise, in which they should move to improve their welfare.
Other specific goals of education include:
·  To develop the child's latent physical skills.
·  To develop character.
·  To inculcate respect for elders and those in position of authority.
·  To develop intellectual skills.
·  To acquire specific vocational training and to develop a healthy attitude towards honest labour.
·  To develop a sense of belonging and to participate activity in family and community affairs.
·  To understand, appreciate and promote the cultural heritage of the community at large. These cardinal goals of traditional education prepares individual for self-reliance, political and economic stability.

FUNCTIONS OF EDUCATION IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
This section of this work will trace the roles of education in national development by showing its functions. Education is essential for every society and individual. It is life itself but not a preparation, for life. Man has various qualities. These qualities of the individual should be developed for the improvement of the country. So education plays a complementary role for overall individual, social and national development. It enables an individual to realize his highest self and goal.
The major role of education is manpower development. Apart from this, the manpower developed must be able to help solve major issues our country faces. As a result education must be relevant to these issues, not separated from them.
The goals of Nigerian education, in terms of reward in naira, programme priorities and personnel, must be spelled out in such a way that the Nigerian public can understand how these goals speak directly to the major issues of today. Discrimination or unequal opportunity. Common in housing, education recreation health and social mobility. Education must deal with unequal concepts of individual worth and the failure of many schools to be concerned about the problem Grant Venn (1970: 13). The generation gap or non- involvement of youth. Continuous riots in communities, schools and colleges, drug abuse, dropping out of society, defiance of social institutions and the noninvolvement of youths in contributing activities related to society's problems, and the economic liability of youth and so on are evidenced of the generation gap in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta Area. The schools should help in bridging the gap between the youth, elders and government in Nigeria.
There are numerous functions of education in the development of any nation. Education is the greatest force that can be used to bring about change. It is also the greatest investment that a nation can make for the quick development of its economic, political, sociological and human resources.
It was in realization of this that a National Policy on Education was formulated for the country. The policy seeks the inculcation of national consciousness and national unity; the inculcation,of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society; the training of the mind in understanding, of the world around; and the acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competence both mental and physical as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of his society.
Education unquestionably plays a vital role in national development in terms of economic and social freedom that higher education is a central performer within the overall education of a country. It is worth noting that any progress in education contributes to successful national development. On the other hand, any shortfall brings about its destruction. Thus, if any specific part of education, educational policy, management, governance or quality of education forms a barrier to national development as a whole, then the education of the country will be regarded as declining, and the decline of education is a threat to national development.     Education is essential for every society and individual. It is life itself but not a preparation for life. Man has various qualities. These qualities of the individual should be developed for the improvement of the country. So education plays a complementary role for overall individual, social and national development.
In order to preserve the culture of the people, government of Nigeria encourages the learning of at least one major Nigerian language - Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba in schools. In addition to the English language, which is the official language in Nigeria and the medium of instruction in Nigerian educational institutions, students are encouraged to learn the French language as a matter of policy.
It has been argued that high rates of education are essential for countries to be able to achieve high levels of economic growth. Empirical analyses tend to support the theoretical prediction that poor countries should grow faster than rich countries because they can adopt cutting edge technologies already tried and tested by rich countries. However, technology transfer requires knowledgeable managers arid engineers who are able to operate new machines or production practices borrowed from the leader in order to close the gap through imitation. Therefore, a country's ability to learn from the leader is a function of its stock of "human capital". Recent study of the determinants of aggregate economic growth have stressed the importance of fundamental economic institutions and the role of cognitive skills.
At the individual level, there is a large literature, generally related back to the work of Jacob Mincer, on how earnings are related to the schooling and other human capital of the individual. This work has motivated a large number of studies, but is also controversial. The chief controversies revolve around how to interpret the impact of schooling.
Individuals purposes for pursuing education can vary. However in early age the focus is generally around developing basic Interpersonal communication and literacy skills in order to further ability to learn more complex skills and subjects. After acquiring these basic abilities education is commonly focused towards individuals gaining necessary knowledge and skills to improve ability to create value and a livelihood for themselves. Satisfying personal curiosities (Education for the sake of itself) and desire for Personal development, to "better oneself" without career based reasons for doing so are also common reasons why people pursue education and use schools.
Because of its important in national development, today, education is becoming increasingly international. The most represented case is the spread of mass schooling. Mass schooling has implanted the fundamental concepts that everyone has a right to be educated regardless of his/her cultural background and gender differences. The system has also promoted the global rules and norms of how the school should operate and what is education. Though the system can have variations in local, regional, and country level, the similarities, in systems or even in ideas, that schools share also enable the exchange among students at all levels which are also playing an increasingly important role in globalization process.
Many job opportunities are opened up because of education. A proper education teaches people skills and knowledge they will need in their careers. As people become more educated, more job opportunities will be opened to the educated individuals who process the qualifications to succeed in those jobs. Therefore, education serves a key to unlock job opportunities.

CONCLUSION
Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, research, or simply through auto-didacticism. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts.
In all parts of the world today, education is milestone of every type of development. Education provides all knowledge to do any work with systematic way. With education any country develops his economy and society. Well-educated population lives with silence and calm.
The role of education is very important in a nations economic and national development. The possession of an educational degree provides many opportunities for an individual. A person with a college education has the chance to enter a professional work force, with the sufficient amount of knowledge to be successful at their job.
Summarily, the progress of a society can be judged by its educational institutions. A country that wants to develop nationally must possess people who are sufficient and knowledgeable to bring the country forward.

REFERENCES
Dewey, John (1916/1944). Democracy and Education. The Free       Press, pp. 1-4. ISBN 0-684-83631-9.

Ross, Elizabeth Dale (1976). The Kindergarten Crusade: The            Establishment of Preschool in the United States. Athens: Ohio           University Press, p. I.

UNESCO, Education For All Monitoring Report 2008, Net Enrollment         Rate in primary education.

May, S. and Aikman, S, (2003), "Indigenous Education: Addressing Current Issues and Developments", Comparative Education 39            (2): 139-145, dohlQ.1080/03050060302549. JSTOR 3099875.

J. Scott Armstrong (1979). "The Natural Learning Project". Journal of Experiential Learning and Simulation (Elseiver North-           Holland, Inc. 1979) 1: 5-12.

Mead, GH (1896). "The Relation of Play to Education". University   Record 1: 141-145.
Johnson, GE (1916). Education through recreation. Cleveland          Foundation, Ohio.
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