Education for world citizenship
Education has always aimed at training individuals so that they may fit better into society. In the earlier stages, society consisted only of the family group, and the mother and father were the only teachers besides nature. Gradually, the function was passed on to the priests. The training was given in arts and crafts and tribal lore. The love and loyalty that the individual ought to bear toward the family group were extended to the tribe. Some sort of a feeling of superiority, too, must have been cultivated so that the individuals could learn to look down upon members of the other tribes and, if need be, fight against them with courage and conviction. A pattern of education like that continued to exist till the middle of the 19th century. Gradually, the concept of the tribe was replaced by that of the Nation. Then it was realized that the individual has importance of his own and education should aim at bringing out the best in him and developing his facilities. But this individualism in education did not last long and did not go beyond certain confines, for it was a patent fact that the individual could not be considered in isolation and the demands of society could be met only by scaling down the ideal. With the advancement of science, when the distances shrank, society was conceived of as a world society and the individual was considered a world citizen. Now education is not limited to the national priorities only. Today education bears an international outlook so that the individual can understand his place and priorities as a citizen of the world at large and can better contribute to the progress of entire mankind.
