Writers 
Education is called the "basis of success," the "key to the future," and a "transformational tool" for society. Millions of students are admitted annually into schools, colleges and universities with a dream of knowledge and a better life. However, a very important question is rarely asked: Where will we go?
When learning is untethered to a purpose, it's an aimless trip. Someone can go through years of schooling, take tests, earn diplomas, and leave the college with no idea of what they accomplished. Educators should not only teach students to take exams; they should teach students how to solve problems, make opportunities, help contribute to society, and live meaningful lives.
Education is more than just earning certificates! A certificate can open a door, but knowledge, skills, character, creativity and discipline can keep a person relevant after they enter that door. Education without the reasons can become a routine, if students are only interested in getting good marks.
Many students today are facing the challenge to study with no direction. Some opt for courses because they are being taken by their friends. Others are working in a career because they are doing what their family expects them to do or they think it will pay them well to do. While it's not bad to think about these things, the student should also ask himself or herself some important questions: What am I passionate about? What are my problems? What are my goals and objectives for learning? What can I do with my education to make an impact in the world?
The purpose makes a difference in education.
A student who knows the meaning of learning education in a different way. Numbers are not all that mathematics is. Maps are not all that geography is. Engineering is more than math. Medicine is no longer memorization of disease. Studying crops becomes more than just the job of agriculture. When purpose is incorporated in every discipline, it can be a device to help solve problems of the world.
It is also the job of education to give the students a sense of responsibility to become good citizens. A well educated person should know how to make a positive contribution to society, as well as how to earn a living. The knowledge of a person, if it is not combined with a certain character, can be dangerous; if not combined with responsibility, intelligence can become a problem instead of a solution.
The world is changing in a quick pace. New demands are being generated through technology, artificial intelligence, climate change, economic problems and social change. Students simply cannot go through the school without learning certificates. They require flexible skills, analytical and logical thinking, communication, creativity, problem-solving skills, and an eagerness to learn.
That's why it is important for every student to stop and say to himself or herself from time to time, “Where am I going?” Not all tracks are necessarily level from start to finish, but there must be a desire to find direction and make meaningful decisions.
Education is not just a process of transiting from one classroom to another classroom, from one exam to another exam or from one certificate to another certificate. It's about being better prepared to live and be a difference.
The question isn't just about education, it's about our lives. The bigger question is: “What do we do with the education we have gotten?”
Learning without purpose can provide knowledge but purpose provides direction to that knowledge. Where knowledge and purpose come together, education is more than just a qualification, it is a force of change.