By Adeleye Kunle
While the term “scam” refers to a deceptive scheme or fraud, it has a semantic extension in Nigeria to mean anything irrelevant or insignificant. The phrase “school na scam” is frequently heard on the lips of young Nigerians (schooling is a scam). While many adults may silence them for saying this, a careful examination of the situation reveals that the netizens’ claim is correct. Isn’t a school system that can’t help students predict their future a sham?
In previous articles, I argued that having skills known as handwork in Nigeria, such as tailoring and hairdressing, is a more productive activity than going to school. If a young lady who is a tailoring apprentice is unable to cut a piece of cloth after six months, the trainer will most likely summon the young lady’s parents and inform them that she requires a deliverance session. On the contrary, students who cannot define and identify a preposition successfully navigate many English departments in Nigeria, and countless computer science graduates are unable to identify the function of Ctrl V. What else would we call a ruse?
This academic deterioration is exacerbated by the number of departments offering courses for which the lecturers, let alone the students, cannot explain their contemporary relevance. In Nigeria, school curricula are sacred; they are like customs and traditions that must be passed down from generation to generation. Courses are not tailored to the learners’ current realities and experiences. Higher education institutions continue to speculate on what society is not adopting. Poor working conditions are suffocating academic creativity.
A career that requires passion and focus has devolved into a means of survival that does not even guarantee survival. Writing and research are now only for profit and promotion. The gown (higher institutions), which should rule over the town (society), is now influenced by the town. With these and other realities, we must ask, “How do we restore the glory of education?”
Unfortunately, the best option is currently the worst option. The brains behind the retardation should be championing the transformation. Expecting anything from a government that has kept students and lecturers at home for more than 5 months is, to put it mildly, like waiting for Godot. While we hope that the government will soon awaken from its slumber and act, there are a few things that other stakeholders can do to make school a scan rather than a scam.
To begin, parents should pay attention to their children’s interests and allow them to guide their paths. It must be emphasized that compulsory education ends with junior secondary school, which is why it is now known as Basic 9.
Schooling should not be portrayed as a divine obligation. A child who wishes to become an actor can enroll in an academy at a young age, while a child who wishes to weave hair can enroll in a sophisticated salon. Those who wish to continue their formal education will do so with pleasure and will not regard schooling as a scam if it is what they want for themselves.
Second, the curricula of various departments and faculties must be completely overhauled. Arts and humanities faculties that do not teach courses on popular culture, peace studies, the internet, and social media are falling behind the needs and realities of modern students.
Regardless of the government’s attitude, academics must strive to discharge their duties diligently and, most importantly, to channel their contents to the needs and passions of the students, even if only for posterity and fulfillment. As John Dewey once said, if what the child is interested in is not in the child’s best interests, then make what is in the child’s best interests interesting.
Finally, students must understand that schooling is not a ritual. Their primary responsibility as young people is to think outside the box and consider legitimate ways and things to channel their knowledge and energy for a prosperous life. A student of English, for example, can use their knowledge to work as an editor, scriptwriter, public speaker, content creator, story and biography writer, and many other jobs that do not require an employer. When you are dedicated to whatever you choose to do as a career, your ingenuity shines through.
Finally, I’d like to reiterate that education is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that enable one to be a useful member of society. Education, if defined as whatever one does to meet life’s expectations, and schooling as one of its agents, cannot be a scam if students’ aptitudes are considered in guiding them and the government, parents, and academics all up to their responsibilities and expectations.
Dr. GAB Bamgbose (Department of English, Lagos State University) wrote in.
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