Education is considered the most powerful instrument of social change. It is through education that the society can bring desirable changes and modernise itself. Various studies have revealed the role of education in bringing about social changes.
The relation between education and changes in social structure has been examined in rural contexts. Allen R. Holmberg and Dobyns jointly as well as separately reported the Vicos action research project. The project was a study of the role of enlightenment in social development. The findings of this project were that education became enmeshed in wider social changes as knowledge became the means to status and effective participation.
It was also found that the most modernised citizens in the community were the youngsters, who had attended school. In another study by Daniel Lerner, it was found that the key to modernisation lies in the participant society, i.e. one in which people go to school, red newspapers, participate politically through elections. It is important to note that literacy not only proved to be key variable in moving from a traditional to a transitional society but also the pivotal agent in the transition to a fully participant’ society.
