In the past, the technology and science developed in a relatively slow manner that a period of schooling and training was enough for people to secure jobs. In contrast, for a mordern person, the changing situation and expansion of the meaning of education make it a lifelong process.
Our world now has entered a new time that the knowledge needed for a professional person is being refreshed with time. Modern people should bear in mind that it is necessary to learn to at any time if they expect to catch up with the developments in their fields. Only by doing so can they really secure their jobs. One of my middle school classmates, who majors in computer, sat the post-graduate entrance examinations this January. He told me it was no exaggeration for him to learn for his lifetime if he hoped to win the competition in this field. To take methodical education, he would come back to classroom regularly even after he accomplish his school training.
Besides that, education means more than going to schools or colleges only for a limited and fixed period. Outside schools education should not cease. Now more and more middle-aged people return to schools, hoping to absorb the brand new things. People also teach themselves at home with the aid of VCD and TV programmes. One of my friends, who dropped out of school at the age of sixteen now has learned to read English newspapers through teaching herself at home and taking classes irregularly. "Maybe one day I will practise my English in the USA." She claimed with confidence. To her, education is a process in which she can teach herself whenever she feels like learning.
Apart from the specialized knowledge and skills, education may include moral cultivation for modern people. In this sense, education must take a lifelong time. Throughout one's life, one should learn how to become a better human being, not only as professional workers but also lofty individuals.
To become a confident competitor, an open-minded learner and a better human being, modern people ought to learn through their life time. Education thus is a lasting process for a modern person.
