"The Importance of Education for Economic Growth"

Education is the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction especially at a school or university (Oxford Dictionary 2018). Education is considered being one of the significant factors of economic growth. Human resources not only have to learn academically, they also need to educate themselves with various skills such as public speaking, socializing, teamwork, etc. Lately, many countries are improving their human resources through education. The lack of education can actually hinder the progress of a country's economic growth. A progress in the economymeans education of a country is well developed. Therefore, everyone must understand that education is important for a country to advance the country's economy.

In relation to illiteracy rate, according to Statistical Centre Board (BPS), illiteracy rate in Indonesia reached 0.49 for the age range of 15-45 years in 2017. This number is lower than the year 2016 which was 1.00, but it should be understood there are still a lot of people who can't read and write. 

For illiteracy rate in Papua alone reached 24.66 which is far from illiteracy in West Java with 0.26 (Badan Pusat Statistik 2018). This illiteracy rate shows that education distribution still needs to be done fairly, because if the education of a country still left behind it will influence the country's economic growth.

Education is one of the biggest aspects of economic growth, for this reason, the government allocates some of its allocation for education. It is because the government is aware of the importance of education for the economic growth of a country. In Indonesia, the government gives scholarship for the kids who are less fortunate to take education. There are three kinds of scholarship for university students such as bidikmisi, unggulan, and scholarship for a poor family. 

While for elementary-educated children they are required to complete basic education for twelve years based on the regulation the government has made. There is also scholarship aid for these kids. This educational aid is for the less fortunate students by showing a card called Kartu Menuju Sejahtera (KMS) to their institutions. With this scholarship, the government hopes that everyone can experience education.

Education is fundamental to promote economy of a country, which expresses the capacity of rural poor to escape from poverty and hunger with their own power. An educated is more likely to find a job, but has also, ceteris paribus, a capacity to use more rationally the resources he or she owns. Educated and informed people have more probability to select valuable objectives in life, such as having stable access to food for their household (Nowak and Dahal, 2016:25). 

This statement supports the opinion of Gillis and his friends that there is a correlation between education and income (Gillis and Friends 1992, P. 219). The higher the education of a person, the higher the position he or she will take. If someone has a better position then he or she can meet their needs better and can be considered prosperous. Increasing welfare is directly proportional to better economic growth. Thus, educated people will promote the economic growth of a country.

The improvement of education is not only the government responsibility, but we as students also have to take part in advancing the country through education. If education increases, then many people will get better jobs and can support the welfare so it will give a good impact on economic growth. From all the points above, we can take the conclusion that education is indeed being one of the driving forces and important in increasing economic growth.

References :

Badan Pusat Statistik. 2018. "Presentasi Penduduk Buta Huruf menurut Kelompok Umur, 2011-2017."

            Accessed 22 March. 

"Education." Oxford Dictionary. England : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Oxforddictionaries.com. Web. 22 March 2018.

Gillis, Malcolm., Dwight H. Perkins, Michael Roemer, Donald R. Snodgrass. 1992. Economics of Development 3 rd edition. New York : W. W. Norton & Company

Nowak, A. Z, and Gangdhar Dahal. 2016. "The Contribution of Education To Economic Growth : Evidence From Nepal." International journal of Economic Sciences, Vol. V(2). Pp. 22 - 41