Yesterday, a friend and I got talking about the educational system and Nigeria being such a highly certificated country, basing her opinion on whether one was educated or not by the number of certificates that one has or can produce. Apart from the fact that this has contributed to the increase in examination malpractices all in the bid to pass exams, graduate and earn a certificate on all levels, even professional courses and in turn, it has contributed to the increase in number of mediocre professionals across various fields, which in turn has contributed to the increase in casualties in all walks of life; medicine, finance, business, education, the legal system etc.
Apart from the above, one major point that was made was that despite the number of certificates one gathers in a certain field, one is not sure to still use these certificates for anything professionally, meaning that one may not necessarily make a career in that field having acquired all the education i.e certificates required. And in the off chance that one actually BEGINS a career in that field, the chances of BUILDING that career in that field is slim, particularly in a country like Nigeria where unemployment is still a major issue and the employees don’t have job security due to the nature of the economy.
So at the end of the day, I ask: why bother in the first place? Why suffer all those sleepless nights trying to learn cases if I would go into makeup after law school? Why attend classes monotonously and religiously for 4-6 years in a row trying to study and get a certificate in something I would most probably not even end up using? My friend said for her, primary and secondary education would be a given but formal tertiary education (college or university) will not be COMPULSORY for her child but VOLUNTARY, if he decides he wants to go through it. After secondary education, they would have a sit-down over the next phase and if that REQUIRES formal education at a university or college, then yes, he goes, but if it absolutely doesn’t, he doesn’t go but still acquires the “REQUIRED EDUCATION” for that field of endeavour.
She would rather have him educated in a skill or an art, e.g go into design school (not necessarily clothes), take acting, business, music classes etc, learn to make bags, cosmetics, shoes etc, something than will channel his creativity, allow him create value in that area that would in turn, make him money at the end of the day. Too may people have endured wasted years on school trying to just graduate when they could have been acquiring a skill or doing something productive with their time. Her point couldn’t have been more solid and guess what, I agreed.
Article by Soomto Ajanma
