Science: Cornerstone of Knowledge

By: Abdelhak Azzouzi

CAIRO, Jan. 13 (SEE)- University students frequently question the secrets behind the technological progress of some countries. My lonely answer is that the first, second and third secret is knowledge.

In spite of its limited geographic area, Japan has the second largest economy worldwide. It is almost a fact that houses worldwide has a Japanese machine, computer or mobile phone.

One can think of Japan as a large science plant that relies on an insightful strategy in the field of advanced industries and real investments; it imports raw material to produce manufactured materials that are then exported to all countries of the world.

Let’s refer to a European country, Switzerland for being the global leader in exporting the best chocolate to the whole world, yet it doesn’t cultivate cocoa. Also, agricultural area, the country’s dairy product output is of the most significant globally.

Today, we can see how a country like India benefits from the development of its academic research and invest in manpower and advanced technology. Economists foresee India as the world’s third economy by 2030, referring to the massive expansion of its private sector.

There is no difference between peoples and ethnicities as we are all the children of Adam; we have the same thought perceptions but the difference lies in knowledge. Meanwhile, what is requested from various world countries is to upgrade its sciences as advancement happens firstly and lastly by knowledge.

Unfortunately, in the Arab world huge gaps exist in between the educational systems and what the region lacks in the area of economic development. Actually, one of the cornerstones that weaken the relation between education and the lessened economic development is the inferior educational level.

The Arab world is ages behind in acquiring knowledge, and of course in generating it. That’s why each and every Arabic community ought to develop its human element, that doesn’t lessen but grow when utilizing it.

Besides, all the Arab communities have to prestigiously award that act of acquiring knowledge and invest in it through education, research, cultural development and all the means of literature and artistic assortment.

The social infrastructure should be intellectually, socially and economically upgraded to acquire the correct knowledge and establish an informed community that aims to set up models of knowledge production instead of the dominant traditional model. Also, to establish a governing principle of the collective human life, and to turn knowledge wealth into capital.

The Arab countries should also think about the priorities of the ongoing stage, namely the fruitful investment in the humans and its advancement to the highest sense of development, training, education and the right employment in scientific research. The particularity of science and technology at the curriculum level and in all academic tracks should be improved, through observation, criticism and reflection in order to obtain a good understanding of knowledge and the development of scientific and technical culture … The systematic diffusion of this culture, as confirmed by some serious international reports, should make a significant contribution to the development of Arab homelands.

There is a need to nationalize knowledge and build self-abilities in researching and developing culture on all societal activities, through shifting to contribute to social and economic infrastructure of Arab societies.

Also, the establishment of an Arab public knowledge model, open and enlightened, which are elements of the reform of the societal context to acquire knowledge.

Such efforts will help to speed up the acquisition of core abilities needed for self-learning, criticism and analysis that boost creativity and innovation.

This will transform the goal of higher education in the Arab countries from the mere graduation of learners who acquire excessive information, to citizens who are capable of continuous self-learning. Thus, we can achieve ways towards the betterment of societal patterns that allow not only the acquisition of real science tools, but also the ability to control the growth of the economic community.

Development is a holistic process that requires the intervention of several factors in a planned and orderly process to radically enhance changes in building a strong economic structure.