Nelson Mandela once said "Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world". Do I agree with this statement? Yes and no. Not all education is good. Nowadays if someone wants to learn how to kill someone or even themselves, all they have to do is go on the internet and there are hundreds, maybe thousands of sites that are willing to teach them how to do so. Malcolm X said "Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today". Do I agree with this statement? Yes and no. Preparing for the future is important but the kind of preparation we make is also important. There are those who are known as "Preppers", people who think that the end of the world is imminent and so are preparing bunkers, weapons and food etc. They think there will be a fight for survival and are determined to win. Whilst I agree we live in perilous times, I think this kind of preparation is useless. There are also those who are paying large amounts of money to have their corpses cryogenically frozen after death, as after studying about the process, firmly believe that medicine will in the future advance to such a degree that they can be resurrected scientifically.

Benjamin Franklin said "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest". Do I agree with this? You probably know what I am going to say. Not all knowledge is beneficial or even necessary. Albert Einstein said "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school". Very interesting. I can truthfully say that some of the things I learned in school have not influenced or changed my life one iota. In a Maths lesson I learned about tesselation. I can categorically state that to this day I have never needed to use that knowledge. One statement I do agree with was made by John F. Kennedy who said "The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth. I agree with this, the dissemination of truth is very important.

Well I would like to continue to write about the quotes of famous people, but I must get on with this article which is about the opportunities open to poorer Chinese students, the ones that come from the countryside.