What does it mean to get EDUCATED?

Today, many people have mistakenly taken education to mean getting a piece of academic qualification. As a result, instead of going to school to get educated, many go to school to get certified and qualified.

In Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, education is defined as:
"Education involves teaching people various subjects, usually at a school or college, or being taught."

Webster's New World College Dictionary defines education as "the process of training and developing the knowledge, skill, mind, character, etc., esp by formal schooling; teaching; training."

Personally, I prefer the Webster's definition. It is more encompassing and it suggests that going to school to get educated means getting oneself trained and developed in different areas of life including skills and character, it is not just about getting certified for competency in the subjects studied or getting qualified eventually with a certificate or a paper qualification.

There has been much report in the media that many graduates are exam-smart but not work-smart. There are those who go to school supposedly to get educated but ended up disrespecting and even assaulting their parents.

I think it is high time schools revisit their basic purpose and start focussing on educating the students on moral and social values instead of just teaching them to excel academically.