How important you think education is

Seeing as I have completed my basic education qualification and have applied for Uni, my answer should be along the lines of "it's of somewhat importance". To be honest right up till now, I've never thought about how important education is. For me it was never a question of do I go to uni, only where? In my culture and country, you get a degree and that's that. It's nothing to be proud of. It's a requirement, something you just do.

My personal beliefs? 

Let's talk about education itself first before making a value judgment on it.

I believe that our education system is flawed. It's designed to test how well a student can answer a set of predetermined questions and not to test if one can actually comprehend and understand the subject. I've seen students get A on papers though they talk absolute rubbish and clearly misunderstand the subject matter just because it was a question they've prepared for. I've also seen good students do badly on papers because the one thing they didn't prepare for, came out. Our testing does not take into account exam anxiety and panic. It does not work for people who understand something really well but can't answer exams because it's too intimidating for them. Their results may say that their a C student but their understanding may be better than those with an A.

So how do I value something that is obviously flawed?

My culture and country tells me that it is not and that education is the most important.

The TV and tumblr tells me that I am not defined by my grades and essentially education is not important.

I believe that it is.

Education is defined as "the art of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing powers of reasoning and judgment and preparing oneself intellectually for matured life." This is something I believe that everyone should have and take part it.

Education to me is not defined as learning in a school for a certain amount of time. It's about learning in general and gaining information. The opportunity to learn is all around us if you just open your minds and heart. You can learn from anyone and anything. I've learnt a lot from watching shows. Okay some pretty useless information but I've learnt things nonetheless.

I value intellectually smart people. Those who can carry a conversation and even those who are willing and ready to learn. I couldn't care less about the level of your education. That's not important. But your ability to hold yourself in social situations and how you carry and present yourself that's important.

Learning and willing to learn is vital. Receiving formal education is a necessity because it teaches you a set of skills but it's not everything.