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By: Jwothab Wanh Othow

 An education is necessity to promote the advancement in society for the better future. The word educate comes from Latin and it means "To draw out." Educators must make a major paradigm shift be able to draw out the knowledge that they have already to improve the Chollo society and the general welfare.

Education has become a major instrument of development and modernization in society. An educated person must be able to utilize his or her knowledge through the process of change in the society for a better future. Traditional Chollo society expects those who are educated in the holistic sense to make significant and meaningful contributions to their society. This paper is intended to provoke; it is an attempt to create a meaningful dialogue among Chollo educators about what it means to be an educated person and the role of an educated person in society. I know that there are those of you might disagree with my view, but the reality is that it is happening in our society. I strongly believe in unifying Chollo by showing respect of one another and in preserving Chollo norms and social identity.

 The idea of an educated person in the Chollo society is holistic; it is inclusive of evidence of a well integrated person with positive moral dispositions and observance of the ethical norms and values of the society.

 An educated person should be capable of functioning effectively in society and be able to build a better society for generations to come. Chollo ordinary people expect an educated person to be the shining light for society and to be able to transform Chollo society to become a better society. The purpose of education is to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed and reasonable decision in the society.  Chollo young educators should integrate their knowledge to solve the social problems that exist in our society and work together as united people. There is an urgent need for Chollo educators to adopt and utilize a holistic conception of an educated person. Chollo educators should emphasize the ethical dimensions of education to make efforts by integrating ideas of development in society. Ordinary Chollo view an educated person as the principles of enlightenment and conditions for human progress in society. An educated person is the one who shows evidence of a well integrated personality, meaningful contributions toward the society; it builds acceptable moral that is intellectually and culturally sophisticated.

 

 Chollo understanding of an educator person is perhaps necessary and important especially at this time where Chollo educates made no significant contribution to society and social change and development in society. It is undeniable that there are many unfruitful competitions among young Chollo educators. Pride and arrogance for their academic achievement has become an obstacle among Chollo to work together. This is vital for our common interest as people. One could ask the question, "What is the role and place of young Chollo educator in contemporary collo society"?  It is shameful and ridiculous because some of the Chollo who claim to be educators are drifting away from our social norms and using defective views that do not constitute Chollo values and beliefs. This deviant behavior could lead to very a serious consequence for the future of Chollo social identity and social norms. Some of these ineffective educators who call themselves educators cannot offer anything significant to society except they are known for creating egocentric confusion in the society.  The most of young Chollo educators today who graduates from different varieties of universities and Colleges are responsible for the lack of "kom dhok akyel" in the Chollo community because they are egocentric and greedy.  For those who are continuing to boast about their academic achievements without applying the fundamental purpose of education is useless.

 Philosophy argues that education should empower individuals, liberates the mind and cultivates social responsibility in solving the problems that face the society as a whole. I urged Chollo young educators to use their education to improve the Chollo society and not become a destruction of Chollo society. While education is on every politician's agenda as an item of serious importance, it is astonishing that the notion of what it means to be educated never seems to come up in Chollo society.  An educated person should possess the knowledge of enlightenment in the society and that is needed for making informed rational decisions in the society.  The self aggrandizement among young Chollo educators would not produce anything for the Chollo community except the ongoing division in our community. It is important for young Chollo educators to have the foundational knowledge and to utilize them to make advancement in the society and forms a more productive society.  I believe the conflicts surrounding the Chollo community today is due to intellectual's self-importance and lack of full understanding of what it means to be an educated person. Chollo can only move forward to achieve our common goals if and when those who call themselves educators can humble themselves to be able to recognize each other and become united people.

 These willful educators are the one who are contributing to the existing divisions within the Chollo community and this is a disgrace for the academic credentials. The education could be considered as a useless thing if it does not deliver service to the people. We should not focus on our differences more than our common interest and the common welfare of all Chollo.  Chollo intellectuals should stop the competition and glorification of themselves among Chollo educators without making any significant effort toward building society. We should use the highest ideals of education to promote the welfare of Chollo people and to promote a sense of mutual understanding among Chollo educators. Chollo society desperately needs you to use your intellectual capability and talents to promote the advancement of Chollo society and for the common good of our society. Academic achievement without offering anything good toward the society is absolutely useless. Today, there are more Chollo young graduates than any other time in Chollo history. Our ordinary people expected an educated person to be able to help them improve their lives and the general welfare of society. An educated person should know about what is important and the role of an educated in society.

 An educated person should possess the mastery of general thinking abilities required to resolve the problems that exist in the society. As an educated person, we must be able to work together to achieve our common goals and the common welfare of our society.  I am afraid that ongoing internal divisions and the lack of unity will threaten the Chollo's values and social norms if the young Chollo educators do not change their behaviors.  We are the ones who make the choice and the choices we make will affect the outcome of our future and Chollo as a whole.  This is a turning point for Chollo where we are failing to fulfill our obligation to work for the common interest and social welfare of our people. Chollo ordinary people expect an educated person to be a problem solver and not a problem maker. I strongly believe an educated person must have a global perspective of knowledge; be adaptable, have holistic interdisciplinary and acceptable behaviors to the society.

 I strongly believe that an intellectual person must be able to make meaningful contributions in the society not just to benefit oneself but society as a whole. Unfortunately, there are many sentiments among the young Chollo intellectual community who lacks the understanding to work together for the common welfare of the Chollo society. We must put our differences aside and work diligently to improve the welfare of Chollo society.  I also believe that an educated person should have a function and purpose beyond himself or herself alone.  There are many young Chollo graduates today who lack a real sense of what it means to be an educated person in the society in which he / she lives. I warned young Chollo educators against succumbing to a feeling of elitism that could lead to false pride and a false sense of self importance.  We have highly educated young Chollo graduates, but when one looks at what they are doing today in Chollo society it is unbelievable. A Chinese emperor of the third century B.C., Qin Shi Huang had buried intellectuals alive due to their behavior and the lack of proper use of the true meaning of education.

The worse part is that some of Chollo educators who called themselves educators are the ones who created the divisions that exist in the Chollo community. Education is useless if it destroys the norms of society and the unity of the people in the society. The true purpose of education is transforming the society for a better future.  Education is useless if it leads to divisions among us and destruction of our society. Education is useless if it separates us rather than brings us together. In ancient Greece , Socrates argued that education was about drawing out what was already within the student, but when one looks at many young Chollo graduates from different varieties of universities and colleges, they have not drawn out the knowledge that they have learned. An educated person should know what you can and more importantly to know what you do not know. Because of their failure to transform the society instead they are creating a setback for the Chollo community. I strongly believe that true educator is to be able to serve others and to transform the society for a better future.

 I am very sad that Chollo intellectuals are losing a sense of belonging and social identity. Sometime I ask myself the question what is the role and place of Chollo intellectuals in the community?  It is sad to say that a great numbers of young Chollo graduates  who called themselves educators do  not think logically about what it mean to be an educators  It is shameful and ridiculous because some of the Chollo intellectuals are drifting away from our own social norms.  It is misleading and even dangerous to justify ourselves as educators and yet we are ignorance not knowing what is vital for our common interest and the social welfare of our people. The issues are not how many degrees that one has but how to utilize the concept of education to transform the society for the better future.

I strongly believe that the education must have a function and purpose beyond itself alone. I urge Chollo educators to realize that divisions among young Chollo intellectuals are inevitable and we must do something about it before it is too late. It is shameful that education of some Chollo educators have been a disgrace to the Chollo community due to their pride and egocentric among Chollo educators. I truly believe that we have the responsibility to shape the future of our society and the generations yet to come. So, let us come together, bring our strengths together, move from darkness to light, and let us avoid the poison of misunderstanding, divisions, bias, and hatred among ourselves.  In this way we will be strong and we will prevail.

* The author is a Sudanese living in the United States; he can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.