The purpose of education is to make good human beings with skill

“The purpose of education is to make good human beings with skill and expertise... Enlightened human beings can be created by teachers.” Thus spoke A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the “Missile Man of India,” a scientist, a teacher, and a president whose heart burned with love for the youth of his nation. His words carry the essence of timeless wisdom: that the end of all learning is not mere knowledge, nor wealth, nor power, but the shaping of souls into beings of goodness, strength, and light. For what use is skill without virtue, or expertise without compassion? It is like a sword in the hand of a child—dangerous, reckless, and without purpose.

Kalam reminds us that education is not a marketplace where degrees are bought and sold, nor a machine that trains workers for profit alone. Its true purpose is higher, nobler, eternal: to create good human beings, men and women of conscience, character, and courage, who will use their knowledge to serve humanity. Skill and expertise are necessary, but they are the body; goodness is the soul. Without the soul, the body collapses into ruin. Without goodness, learning becomes arrogance, invention becomes destruction, and society devours itself.

And who are the architects of this greatness? Teachers. It is they who kindle the flame of enlightenment, shaping not only minds but hearts. A teacher does not merely pass on information, but awakens wisdom. A teacher is not a laborer in the classroom, but a gardener in the garden of humanity, nurturing each child like a seed, drawing forth its hidden potential until it blossoms into greatness. When Kalam said, “Enlightened human beings can be created by teachers,” he was calling upon teachers everywhere to see themselves not as servants of a system, but as creators of destiny.

History gives us proof of this truth. Consider Chanakya, the ancient teacher who guided Chandragupta Maurya, a boy of humble origin, to become one of the greatest emperors of India. Chanakya’s wisdom, discipline, and guidance forged in his student not only political skill but the virtues of leadership, justice, and vision. The teacher’s hand shaped the ruler, and the ruler shaped a nation. So too did Socrates inspire Plato, and Plato inspire Aristotle, and Aristotle inspire Alexander the Great. In every age, it is teachers who have sown the seeds from which civilizations grow.

Kalam himself was a living example of his teaching. Born in a modest home in Rameswaram, he was nurtured by teachers who saw his hunger to learn. One teacher placed him beneath the open sky and told him to dream beyond the stars. Another taught him discipline and humility alongside mathematics. Those teachers created in him not only a brilliant scientist but an enlightened human being, who carried his knowledge with humility, his expertise with service, and his power with love for the people. In his life, the power of education’s true purpose was revealed.

What lesson, then, must we take? That we must never separate skill from virtue, nor expertise from character. Parents, do not ask only for high grades from your children, but ask whether they are becoming compassionate and just. Teachers, do not be content to complete the syllabus, but strive to awaken a sense of duty, wonder, and goodness. Students, do not chase knowledge only for wealth, but for the power to serve, to heal, and to build. For the greatest achievement of education is not a certificate on the wall, but a soul aflame with purpose.

So remember this teaching as a charge for your life: “The purpose of education is to make good human beings with skill and expertise... Enlightened human beings can be created by teachers.” Let every classroom be a forge of character, every lesson a seed of wisdom, and every teacher a torchbearer of light. And let each of us, in our own way, carry the spirit of the teacher—sharing what we know, guiding those who come after us, and striving always to unite knowledge with goodness. For in this lies the salvation of nations, the flourishing of humanity, and the birth of a future worthy of our children.