Whereas some countries put roadblocks for blockchain adoption, others are taking charge and embracing the technology to their respective industries including trade, healthcare, governance, finance, real estate, security – and most importantly, EDUCATION.

Here’s the thing: countries that are fast adopting blockchain technology and innovation are positioned to create a massive impact on their economies. But affluence without educating the greater masses is counterproductive. Illiteracy is a scourge.

The consequences of illiteracy are many and harmful in several respects. As well as affecting illiterate individuals themselves in their daily lives and often jeopardizing their future, this scourge has a significant effect on society, both socially and economically. 

On that thought, let’s take a look at a slice of life and a profound sample.

Saanvi walked slowly home along the street past the Ganesh Mandir temple with her father. As she shared a piece of the Orange she was eating with him, she asked

“Pita, why did you always insist we master the English language?”

“Come, let’s sit near the bridge and I’ll tell you a story,” he said

“Saanvi, I have always encouraged you to learn English – not for the language sake, not for the fanfare of learning English but as a tool to help you engage and understand, and access the massive resources that are available to you, which without English would be impossible to get hold of.

I love Hindi and believe people should not forget their native languages, in fact, I tell all my friends to encourage their children to learn and maintain and keep their home language alive.”

“Yes, I’ve heard you speaking to them about it Pita”

“I tell them they should practice their language, as this will ensure that our culture is preserved, that our family traditions are remembered, and that history is passed on with the colloquialisms and stories that can only be conveyed in the voice and character of a home language.”

“Is that why even though you’ve insisted we learn English, we still speak Hindi at home?” asked Saanvi

“Yes, my dear daughter. But English is different and this is why it is crucial for you to focus on learning English.

Let’s imagine that you want to move from where we are now to the other side of the river, and this bridge was not here.

On the other side of the river lies opportunity, work, friendships, experiences, progress, money, healthcare and a myriad of other things that would make your life wonderful.

The only way to get access to all those things would be for you to build a bridge to get across.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Saanvi said

“There are many different types of bridges that you could build and any one of them would be helpful to you, but each will have varying degrees of usefulness.

You could build a footbridge that allows you to move from one side of the river to the other. You would be able to fetch anything you could carry, and this would definitely make a difference in your life.

You could build a single lane motor bridge that would allow you to drive one car to move across the bridge at a time, and this would be more successful in bringing supplies back than you carrying it cross on the footbridge.

You could also build a multi-lane bridge that would allow an 18 wheeler truck to go and fetch supplies and bring them back to your side of the river. Does this make sense Saanvi?”

“Yes, Pita”

“The reason I use this analogy is that we need to have a look at a few fundamentals to understand why it is important to learn English.

Let’s assume English is the bridge you need to build.

Today currently one in five people in the world are able to speak and understand English. And yet more than 50% of the information online is in English, freely available information that could change your life, if you can access it.

This means that 20% of people have access to more than 50% of the information that is online. This leaves the other 80% of people at a disadvantage.

Why? Because they don’t have a “bridge”. The type of bridge you build is up to you.

A footbridge is somebody that has a very basic knowledge and English skills of 3 out of 10.

A single lane motor bridge could be someone that has a far greater grasp of English, a 5 or 6 out of 10.

A multi-lane truck bridge would be someone that would have an 8 or 9 out of 10 grasp of the English language and can converse, read and assimilate information, and learn almost any topic by using the English language.

That is why mama and I have always pushed you to learn English”

“I understand now Pita. Thank you for helping me build my English bridge to knowledge.”

Are Blockchain and Education the perfect partners? Tell me what you think and help me push the English Forward advocacy to those who can benefit from it.