Character education is a term which is often heard and everyone claims to know what this term means. But in actual terms there are not so many people who have a clear understanding of this very important phrase. To comprehend this term, let’s begin with the term character. What is character? A character is the reflection of ones personality. Your traits, your habits, what you do, what you say, the way you walk, talk, eat, deal with people all comprises your character and personality.

Character education is, as defined by Lickona, “the deliberate, proactive effort to develop good character in kids—or, more simply, to teach children right from wrong. It assumes that right and wrong do exist, that there are objective moral standards that transcend individual choice—standards like respect, responsibility, honesty, and fairness—and that we should teach these directly to young people.”

In simpler words, character education means teaching good moral values, giving a concept of right and wrong, good and evil. Providing character education to kids includes all kind of your interaction with them, it’s in the way you talk to them, the behaviors you exhibit, the actions you encourage etc. In your every kind of dealing with the kids, no matter who you are, you are always contributing towards building their characters.

A common perception is that a child starts the education when he/she goes to school. But it is not correct. In fact the education begins from home. They are the parents and the family that contribute the most towards building up the child’s character. All parents want their children to posses an excellent character, with all positive traits in them. This is not an easy task. It imposes a lot of responsibility on the part of the parents. It’s their duty to filter their child’s activities so that it leads to his positive character building. Here comes a conflict of opinion. Some parents tend to adopt the system of rewards and penalties to bring their children to the correct path. But this act is not so effective because the kids should themselves be able to discriminate between right and wrong so that in the long run, even under pressurized circumstances, they should be able to take fair decisions on their own.

After the parents and family, next two most influential factors are teachers and school environment. The school authorities are responsible to include direct teaching of character education under school curriculum. Students visualize their teachers as role models. Therefore the teachers can play a very significant role in the character building of their students. Teaching emerges from one’s inwardness, for better or worse like any truly human activity. Being a good teacher does not only mean to have a complete grasp over your subject but it also demands be morally fair too in your dealings and talks. In a more formal way, one can say that good teaching comes from good people. Education does not only include teaching the curriculum and the technical stuff. But it also means to deliver good moral values to their students and if delivered in a correct way, this leads to the positive character building of the student. There should be regular seminars, conferences and character education programs conducted for the teachers by the school authorities, telling them how to indulge into positive character education of the students and also enlightening them with the fact that they hold very imperative position in the character building of their students. This will develop a sense of responsibility in teachers and they will feel themselves liable for the character building of their students. Effective character education is not which is only practiced by teachers but also it must be modeled by all other adults in the school with whom the student interacts like faculty, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, maintenance staff etc.

For providing proper character education it is very important to know the basic building blocks of a good character. Some of the attributes which are of foremost importance in building a good character are justice, self discipline and control, gratitude, wisdom, integrity, humanity, fortitude, hard work, love and positive attitude.

Media and books are also very important means of character education. Reading stories with a good moral generally inspires children, young boys and girls. Watching TV programs that deliver a lesson can also be very helpful in this regard.

Character educating no doubt holds the same importance in life as the normal technical education. Therefore this part should not be ignored and one should contribute to the maximum in positive character building of the people for whom he/she is liable for.

King Zahir Shah (early to mid 20th Century) built primary schools for students under the age of 12, along with strengthening the secondary school system and increasing the number of national universities in Kabul. This move was a first step towards laying a stronger foundation for education. Though a large part of population still remained illiterate, it was a bold move nevertheless.

Then in the mid 1980s the country had around 800 primary schools, 300 general secondary schools and about 6500 students in Kabul University. Such low figures are due to the widespread destruction that took place, which also eliminated up to 80 percent of the schools and colleges. Resultant, a large portion of Afghanistan generation grew up without any formal schooling.

The year 1996 once again marked a setback for Afghanistan education sector. The then Taliban regime most ferociously banned the education for females in Afghanistan and evolved mosque schools (madrassa) for primary and secondary education.

The 21st century has marked a shining phase in the Afghanistan Education. From a “no-education-for-girls”, the scenario shifted to “separate-education-for-girls”. In 2003, the girls and women shed off their
camouflage and enrolled themselves in schools and colleges. Though they shared separate facilities, but they were given the right to study nonetheless. The transition is subtle, but sure.

Few of the named Universities of Afghanistan that have carved a niche in their education sector are as follows:-

• Kabul University
• American University of Afghanistan
• National Military Academy of Afghanistan
• Kabul Institute of Medicine
• Polytechnic University of Kabul
• University of Pedagogy

These estimable universities constitute a major chunk of illustrious scholars, and are gaining popularity with each passing day. Kabul University in itself presently holds 10,000 students, out of which 2000 are females. An educated mind is also an enlightened one. Hope the improvement in the Afghanistan education sector also paves the way for stronger community base.

People need education for him to be responsible enough. Education opens up the door of development and the windows of opportunity for us to show up ourselves in the society. Education may take different forms. It can be verbal or in the form of actions. It can be obtain by enrolling ourselves in universities, academies, state colleges or in simpler word, school. These educational institutions teach, nurture, and develop the skills of every student. This is the place where a responsible citizen of his country is molded.

Education, in general, is a very broad topic to discuss that is why we really need to divide it into pieces for us to understand about what education really is. Aside from this, it is useful for it transformed an uncivilized man into a modern one, it is also a way to change man‘s life. Health education for example is a form of education by which individuals or groups of people learned to behave in a manner that contributes to the maintenance and promotion of good health. It also helps the individual to develop sense of responsibility for it requires self-discipline in personal hygiene. We have a saying that behind a productive man is a healthy mind, body, and soul.

Health education, as part of General Education, is a thing not to be set aside. It is indeed a great way in uplifting our standard lifestyles and transforming ourselves into a more responsible and mature citizens. It not only teaches prevention and basic health knowledge but also conditions ideas that will re-shape everyday habits of people. Yes, it only focuses on health aspects but then health is wealth. Education added by health is a very powerful weapon for it does not hurt anyone, but it can kill illiteracy that is one of the reasons of man’s downfall.

There is a saying from John Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, that education is not a preparation for life, it is life itself. From this, we can get the idea that if we have education, we know life. If we know life we know everything.

1. Choosing the right accredited online college or university – The first step is to select the right institution to provide for your online education degree. Do your homework before starting school, and make sure the school has been accredited by the appropriate accrediting agencies. Unfortunately, without that educational stamp of approval, the degree will not be worth the paper on which it is printed. In fact, “diploma mills” offer substandard, or no education with the promise of a quick (but worthless) degree.

2. Analyze cost vs. benefit – Some students enroll in a distance learning program without considering the cost. Generally, the cost per credit hour is fairly expensive. However, decide whether the education will translate into better income opportunities down the road. Only after assessing the true benefits can students appreciate the rewards of obtaining an education online degree.

3. Degree validation by employers – No wonder many employers are wary of online degrees. With bogus institutions literally selling degrees, employers have good reason to be doubtful and cautious. Therefore, immediately alleviate any potential misgivings by your prospective employer by offering verification of accreditation through an agency sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA.

4. Practice discipline, time management and be determined to succeed – During the course of learning, many students simply lack discipline and are unable to focus. This makes it difficult to keep up with their online lessons and coursework, it is thus crucial for students in pursuit of online education degree to have a great determination to succeed. It is very easy to lose focus and motivation when studying alone. Exercising good time management and keeping in constant touch with classmates would increase the morale to succeed.

5. Utilize all the facilities provided by your college – Many education degree online courses provide online lectures and email access to facilitate communication among students, lecturers and administration staff. It’s important to take full advantage of these services as they keep you “connected” with your accredited online college. It helps further your motivation in your studies when you make use of these facilities to stay in touch.

6. Make use of credit transfers – Many online education degree colleges allow students to transfer their credits from courses they took in previous colleges, whether online or traditional. By doing this, it means students don’t have to repeat courses they learnt before. For this to be effected, it’s important for a student who intends to pursue an education online to make sure they get transcripts and results from their previous universities or colleges and make them available to their accredited online college so they can be passed as transfer credits.

7. Using Educational technology is essential – The only way to facilitate an excellent online education degree is to take full advantage of all the educational technology available. Virtual libraries generally have all the information necessary to complete research projects and other assignments. The online materials have been factored into the cost of the course. The convenience is another reason for using this benefit to the fullest.

In any situation, any parent would not like to gift a illiterate life to his children. To solve this grim cases, various types of loans have been conceptualised. The expenses of higher education can, however, be easily borne with the support of the so called student education loans. These loans have been specially crafted, keeping in mind the bright prospect of higher education. These days, a wide variety of subjects such as science, social science, English etc., form the basis of our education system. The children can be let loose to explore the subjects and get education from the most preferred universities with the support of such special loans. These loans would responsibly take care of all the educational expenses such as hostel fees, tuition fees etc., at ease.

With these educational loans, people can easily case their dreams of reaching an eminent position in high-profile companies, offices etc. Today the education scenario looks only brighter to those people who come blessed with sufficient amount of money. However, otherwise the students are forced to either indulge into certain part-time jobs or quit studies. But with the introduction of these types of loans, it seems like nothing can stop the parents now from offering a bright future to their children.

The education loans are the most preferred loans these days due to various reasons. In fact, the repayment mode of these type of loans are very attractive. Almost every educational loan has to be repaid only after the concerned borrower starts earning. Of course, such loans are specially made for students who are opting for professional courses. Apart from the professional courses, other courses come with the option of equal monthly instalments. Which means in such a case, the concerned borrower or the parents of the student should repay the amount on the basis of monthly instalments. As such, both these cases can be summarised as follows – the repayment period of the professional courses usually starts after the completion of the course while the repayment period of other courses starts instantly after the loan gets sanctioned.

Apart from the student education loans, one can even avail personal loans at flexible terms and conditions. Due to the low personal loan interest rates, the Indian loan market has been on an all-time high. The economic reforms of 1991 introduced by the PV Narasimha government have been able to positively stimulate the Indian economy to a considerable extent. The positive trends can be still noticed, with the economy of India turning itself from a debtor to a creditor of the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

However, the eligibility criteria for getting student education loans are not very scary. The applicant of the loan should be at least of the age of 18 years or above 18 years of age. The concerned borrower should have a current bank account. Moreover, the repayment options and the terms of qualification are just adding more points to such special types of loans. These type of loans come both in secured and unsecured forms. Secured loans are quite easy to avail as the security pledged validates the authenticity of the borrower. However, these form of loans come boosted with low interest interest rates, hassle-free terms and conditions and stress free repayment options. The unsecured loans on the other hand requires a pledged security from the concerned borrower. As in these type of loans, almost 75 per cent of the risk needs to be borne by the lender and certain strict terms and conditions enhance the lending amount safety and repayment. The rates of interest which come associated with these loans are slightly high yet affordable. The students have every right and power now to get their focus right and study for their own betterment as well as for the society.

Both Barack Obama and John McCain emphasize education reform in their platform, but whose plan benefits you and your children the most?

McCain believes the key to education reform is the ability of parents to choose which schools their children attend, similar to his colleagues in Congress who are able to send their children to the best private schools in their area. The Republican nominee equates equal education to equal access to the best education. According to his website, “John McCain will fight for the ability of all students to have access to all schools of demonstrated excellence, including their own homes.”

The Arizona senator wants to encourage competition among schools to be the most innovative and flexible, and compete for the best teachers and administrators.

Furthermore, McCain believes that financial assistance must be based on a parent’s desire to relocate their child to the best school available.

However, Obama sees teacher retention and affordable higher learning as the key to education reform. According to his website, thirty percent of schoolteachers leave the field of education within their first five years. In addition, the cost of a college education has grown by forty percent in the last five years.

Obama and running mate Joe Biden’s plan for education reform includes the Zero to Five Plan, reforming No Child Left Behind and supporting college credit initiatives.

The Zero to Five Plan will not only place emphasis on early childhood education but also early care and education for infants, which they see as paramount in preparing a child for kindergarten. The senator from Illinois will quadruple Head Start, increasing its funding and improving its quality. In addition, he wants to make high-quality child care affordable for working-class families.

Obama believes the problem with the much-maligned No Child Left Behind program was a lack of funds for the law. He will fund the law, but not force teachers to spend an entire year preparing for a standardized test, but instead will find other tools to assess a student’s achievement and readiness for higher education. He plans to support the formation of more high-performing charter schools by doubling the funding of the Federal Charter School Program, while closing low-performing existing charter schools.

The Democratic nominee wants to make math and science a national priority by recruiting college graduates with math and science degrees and supporting efforts to team teachers with professionals in the fields of math and science. In an effort to retain teachers, he would allow a mentoring program that would team young teachers with experienced teachers.

Another key to Obama’s education reform plan is his “Make College a Reality” initiative, which will increase advance placement courses in high school and implement a new American Opportunity Tax Credit, which will ensure that the first $4,000 of college tuition is completely free for most Americans. According to his website, “Recipients of the credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of community service.”

Consequently, whether it is McCain or Obama in the White House in January 2009, both candidates are determined to make education the foundation of American advancement once again.

As you may be able to tell by the names of these groups, the database was set up for those that already have a degree, but need or want continuing education credits.

If you are interested in Canadian distance learning and you do not currently have a degree, there are many institutions that offer online college courses.

Additional examinations may be required depending on the field that you plan to go into. However, if you want to improve your earning potential, in less time than you may have thought possible, then a distance education online degree is the first place to start.

What type of fields can you get into with Canada distance education? Several courses are available on their online distance education websites. Online university programs are particularly of high value to American and Canadian citizens that are temporarily outside of North America.

Whilst credits received from an online college are sometimes not transferable to other schools, it is highly probable that your credits will be accepted, should you decide to go to a conventional university in the future.

The fields that are available for Canadian distance education include business management, criminal justice, security, culinary arts, education, computer sciences, liberal arts, communication, health, psychology, real estate, web design and many others. One, two and four year programs are available. Basically, the sky is the limit to what you can learn.

There are many reasons why people choose Canadian distance education. You might have a full-time job that prevents you from attending regularly scheduled classes. You might have a family that needs your attention. Online courses simplify the whole matter. You learn at your own pace, when it is convenient for you.

In case you need convincing, there are many reasons to go back to school. You have taken the first step by searching for Canada distance education. Now, it is time to commit. Why?

The current state of the world economy is “rough”. Those people with degrees will be able to find and hold jobs, through these difficult times. A Canadian distance education program can allow you to compete, without interfering with what you already have.

Recent reports suggest that particular degrees will be in increasing demand in the foreseeable future. Health care degrees are number one on everyone’s list of “best choices”, largely because of increasingly high numbers of elderly people. Canada distance education could allow you to find a satisfying healthcare career.

If you aren’t “into” health care, there are several other popular programs such as Finance and Information Technology, that are also available. A Canadian distance education degree in an IT field will allow you to qualify for those jobs, when they are available. Right now, there are plenty of them.

The tuition fees of Canada distance education schools is comparable to that of traditional universities. In some instances, the costs are less. Colleges need students, as much as you need an education. Don’t put it off. Apply now.

A few years ago, I met another teacher who had taught on the other side of Africa, in Ghana, but not in a private school like me, but in a little village school lost in the bush somewhere. One might find this strange but she, also, met the most interesting, most motivated and mature children there.

These children, both the ones I met in Kenya and the ones she met in Ghana could hardly have been any more different. Most of my students’ future was pretty much traced already, with their parents’ business to take over, no doubt of a college education and a promised life of comfort. My friend’s Ghanaian students had none of that but loved school and would have done anything to be there.

In a conversation with a very good Ghanaian friend of mine more recently, we both agreed that in both cases, and in Africa in general, people see education as a privilege, so they make the most of it. She, too, grew up in Africa and came from a better off family than the average African, but she never took education for granted. Over there, and in many other countries in the world, it is never a guarantee, when a child is born, that he/she will be going to school. So when you do, you appreciate it.

It is true that the image that we tend to have of Africa is the less developed side of the continent. We see the way people live in the mud huts and overcrowded vehicles and wild animals surrounding villages in the middle of nowhere. We see also kids living in the streets of big cities having to resort to anything they can to survive. These kids would give anything to go to school. But what are the chances?

I read an article a couple of days ago about two afghan sisters who were walking to school one day and got attacked by men who threw acid at them. They were teenagers, going to school. The men didn’t want women to have an education. These girls are more determined than ever to go to school.

Not so long ago in the United States of America, some people were not given the same access to the same education because of the color of their skin. Up until fairly recently, women also didn’t receive the same level of education in many countries.

There are still many nations with totalitarian regimes who do not allow certain books, information and facts to be taught because of their political, religious or social beliefs.

In this country, some parents have to force their kids to go to school. Kids run away, pretend to go to school when they get dropped off and disappear for the day. You hear teenagers tell you that school is boring. A good friend of mine often used to say: “Only boring people get bored”…

In this country, education is served to you on a plate. Of course, there is always room for constructive criticism and improvement. You can always say that it is not as good as it should/could be. But it’s there! Kids don’t have to get up in the middle of the night and walk two hours there and back to go to school. Access is given to all sorts of books, movies, scriptures and debates. Philosophers are studied, even if sometimes they question and disturb. Knowledge is passed on, on a daily basis, it is there for you to receive if you want it.

The United States remains a symbol of Freedom. Many countries in the Western World can pride themselves with Freedom. You hear people in the US claiming their right to Freedom. “This is a free country! I can do this!” Freedom is a privilege, everybody knows that and everybody likes to remind others of it and proudly claims the fact that they belong to a country where Freedom is the basis of life.

Education is the same. It is just as much of a privilege as Freedom. In fact, it is part of it. And yet so many people, especially the ones receiving it, don’t seem to see the value of it. Nobody questions the fact that Freedom is there and is a given. It SHOULD be there. And yet, education is the same. It is there for everybody. The fact that it is given to you doesn’t make it any less valuable. Freedom is given to you too. It came at a price though. So did education. It wasn’t always like that.

Education IS a privilege. Just as Freedom is. Education is what keeps people free. Education is what allows people to think and question and criticize and improve the world. You might think that changes are needed in education now, and I agree with you. There is always room for improvement, so there will always be a need to look at ways to do things better. There are different ways to be educated and sometimes, what you need doesn’t come from High School the way it is now. But whatever form of education you get is useful, if you are prepared to receive it.

Don’t take it any more for granted than you would take Freedom for granted. Make sure your kids know that and realize how grateful they can be to be going to school every day. They get the chance to develop a thinking mind. If you think school is not good enough, then propose your solutions, but don’t undermine it. Receive it as the gift and privilege it actually is.

The student education loans can be availed by all fields of students like technology, science, arts, medicine, engineering and law including all the professional courses. Some of the banks in India like the ICICI, State Bank of India, HDFC and HSBC are offering educational loans at very low interest rates with flexible policies.

The process of applying for the educational loan is very easier than the other loans. Just the student (or the borrower), who want to apply for these loans has to fill the application from and should submit it in the bank with by attaching needed enclosures like age proof (birth certificate), identity proof, letter from the college (in which he/she is going to join), address proof, guardian or parents documents and marks list of the qualifying examination. With the advent of Internet, most of the banks are offering online services to their customers. So, one can apply for these online loans and can get up-to-date information regarding the loan without visiting the bank several times.

After verifying the particulars submitted by you, the bank will sanction you loan and directly send the amount of course fee to the concerned college. Unlike the personal loan interest rates, the interest rates for student education loans are far too lower. This means that the loan burden is not passed to the loan borrower from the date of sanction. The students can start repaying the loan money after completing his/her course time. In case of not getting job immediately after the completion the course, some of the banks giving more six months time to start paying monthly instalments. The maximum amount that banks in India are sanctioning for the students, who study in India is Rs. 10 Lakhs and for the students, who go for abroad is Rs. 20 Lakhs.

If you want to avail student education loans, at first you should gather the information of all the banks, which offer educational loans in India. Then, you can select the best one that offers these loans at a very low interest rate with flexible terms and conditions for taking a loan.

Finally, we can say that educational loans in India are helping the students to turn their dreams into reality.

The growth in the numbers of people pursuing an online college education has led to increased competition amongst institutions to attract students. The best way to assess the credibility of a site advertising the best online college education is to ask about the accreditation of its courses. Accreditation means that a governing body for a particular field has endorsed the course and this is extremely important in helping you to decide who to trust with your online college education. If a course is not accredited then you need to find out why.

There may be a number of courses that have not yet received accreditation from an appropriate association or governing body but still offer a good online college education. For example, the establishment may have applied for accreditation but not yet been assessed, in which case you can actually check with the particular body that they are in the process of assessing the application for accreditation. Another reason may be that there is no appropriate body that the course can be accredited to. This is less likely but is, nevertheless, a valid reason and does not indicate that the course offered is not going to be worth taking to advance your online college education.

If, however, you find that the online college education institution has been refused accreditation they are likely to try to tell you that accreditation is not important. This is quite simply untrue. An online college education from a non-accredited institution is not going to be viewed as highly as one from an establishment that is accredited. Choose where you gain your online college education from with care to ensure that you are not wasting your time and money by having an almost worthless qualification.