"The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think -rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men"( Dewey n.d.). Education is the holistic development of the individual. It involves the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape the well rounded individual needed in contemporary societies. According to Peters (2010) education is human achievement that develops the mind through knowledge and understanding. For him this achievement does not occur overtime, instead one has to be engaged in a series of activities which results in a person being educated. In many instances the question arises, what should be aims of education in contemporary societies? To logically answer this question one must examine the definition of the term "aim". Hamm (2005) defines aims as actions or activities of beings that can think. He further explains that all aims are instrumental and that human actions are either instrumental in the achievement of something else or worthwhile in itself. Why do we have specific aims of education? The aims of education are the very broad, general statement of the purpose of education. They are meant to give general direction to education in the school setting. If society is to have the desired type of students, the education system must produce well-rounded individuals; hence, the importance of having clearly defined aims of education. In contemporary Caribbean societies the aims of education should be derived from careful examination of the needs of children, cultural diversity and the needs of the society. To some extent the educational aims of developing a person, autonomy and citizenship education is embedded in the education system of contemporary Caribbean societies.
One of the main aims of education should be the development of the person.