Education is:
- the gradual process which facilitates learning through the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs;
- the (institutional) system in which these processes take place.
We distinguish informal education, formal education, and non-formal education.
Informal education starts in the family environment, at home, where the parents are the first teachers of the child. Later on, education becomes institutionalized, or formal, from the moment children enter kindergarten until they leave vocational schools, high school, or university. Throughout the years spent in the education system, children (m/f) learn by listening, exploring, observing, experiencing, and asking questions. Ideally speaking, the time spent in school contributes to skills development: physical, social, emotional, literacy and numeracy, speaking and listening. Education does not only contribute to the individual development of boys and girls. It may also support a sense of belonging, empowerment, and world citizenship. Non-formal education is usually referred to as adult education, including literacy.