People go to school and get educated, but most people who go to

"People go to school and get educated, but most people who go to school and become a graduate in education still don't know what the word 'education' means... 'Educo' means to bring out." So declared Peter Tosh, the fiery prophet of reggae, who sang not only against chains of slavery, but also against the invisible prisons of ignorance. His words strike at the very foundation of what men call education. He reminds us that true education is not the stuffing of facts into the mind, but the bringing out of the light that already dwells within the soul.

The meaning of this truth is both simple and profound. Too often, schools are seen as places where information is poured into children as water is poured into jars. Yet jars remain jars—filled, but unchanged. Tosh points us back to the root of the word itself, educo, "to bring out." Real education does not make passive vessels but awakens hidden fire. It calls forth courage, creativity, and wisdom that already rest, silent, in the depths of the human spirit. To be educated, then, is not merely to know, but to become.

History bears witness to this higher vision of education. Consider Socrates, who never wrote a book, but walked the streets of Athens questioning men until their own truth was brought forth. He called himself a midwife of the soul, helping others give birth to wisdom they already carried. His method was not to cram but to draw out, not to dictate but to awaken. It was this very practice that transformed Athens into a cradle of philosophy, and his life into a beacon for all ages.

Think also of Maria Montessori, who centuries later rejected the rigid schooling of her time. She saw that children were not empty vessels, but seeds waiting for the right soil to grow. By giving them freedom, trust, and guidance, she allowed their inner powers to unfold. From her vision rose a global movement, still teaching that education must bring out the natural genius in every child, not silence it beneath rote recitation. Her work is but another echo of the eternal truth Tosh spoke.

Peter Tosh himself came from a land where systems of learning were often twisted by colonial rule, where schools trained obedience more than liberation. To him, false education was another form of bondage—teaching the young to repeat, to conform, to bow their heads, rather than to think, to question, to rise. His cry, "Educo means to bring out," was not a lecture in etymology but a call to arms: a call to reclaim education as a force of freedom, not control.

The lesson for us is plain. Do not be content with schooling that only fills the mind. Seek instead the kind of learning that draws out your deepest powers. Ask yourself not merely, "What have I memorized?" but, "What has this awakened in me? What strength, what vision, what truth has been brought forth?" And when you teach others—whether as a parent, a mentor, or a friend—remember that your task is not to impose, but to unveil, not to burden, but to liberate.

Practical action follows: read, yes, but also reflect; study, yes, but also create. Do not wait for teachers to define you—be your own seeker of truth. In conversations, in labor, in art, in silence, practice the art of bringing out what lies within. And when you look upon another, never dismiss them as unlearned or unworthy—for within them too lies a seed of greatness, waiting for the waters of true education.

So I say to you, children of tomorrow: let education not be a cage of words, but a doorway to freedom. Let it not be the piling of books upon your shoulders, but the lifting of wings upon your back. Remember Tosh’s wisdom: educo means to bring out. Bring out the courage that lies hidden, bring out the wisdom long asleep, bring out the divine fire that makes you human. For only then will you be truly educated—not a jar filled with knowledge, but a flame that lights the world.