School na Scam
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. — Albert Einstein
Today, I heard someone say a very common statement by a lot of my compatriots when asked why he had decided to not go back to school. "School na scam" he said, translate to school is scam. The truth is that a lot of people say this in my parts of the world, even students in the university say it too, and I'd always tell them to drop out then whenever I hear them say that. I mean, why continue wasting your time doing something you consider to be a fraudulent scheme?
Whether they truly believe this or not, I don't can't say. Of course one way to look at the statement is that it is an indictment of our educational system, also, this is said because of successful people who had either dropped out of school or not gone to school at all and still become successful against all odds.
I remember as a young boy, when I was ion primary school, I used to drag my sister to school as she would always cry and refuse to go to school. This happened every school day. As a school lover, I had to find a way to woo my sister into loving school to and making the morning journey easier for the both of us. So, I sacrificed part my lunch money to buy her snacks or sweets at a shop halfway between my house and school. That way, before she is done munching on it, we would have gotten to school and I am free since she usually stop crying immediately we reach school. Well, even that didn't always go as planned.
Gone are the days when school is a guarantee for success or a good job with a good pay. All that luxuries are now for those who know the right people, and it doesn't even matter whether or not they are qualified for the job. A lot of people go to school not because they want to, but because their parents wanted them to. You see that because their mind is not in it, they usually struggle with their academics.
One of the many things I must commend my parents for was the liberty they gave us to choose our path. After your secondary school, it was entirely up to you to decide what it is you want to do next, either you want to learn a skill or choose to further your education. If you choose to further your education, your course of study is entirely up to you too. So, you may understand how strange it was for me when I learnt a lot of other people were being forced to go to school and to study a particular course too because it is believed to be more lucrative and your chances of being unemployed are very slim. When the parents' choices are forced on their children, it is usually difficult for said children to cope with their academics and often lose interest altogether because they are not really happy doing what they are doing. That is not to say that there are also not those who learn to love what they are doing eventually.
I'd be lying if I said school is necessary for everyone, truth is that it actually isn't and not everyone need go to school, neither will everyone who go to school will be successful nor brilliant and make good grades. In fact, I remember posting on my WhatsApp status a while back about this topic. I had said that school will teach you 1+1=2, and how you use that knowledge to your advantage in life is entirely up to you. Basically, school shows you are path and it is entirely up to you walk that path to the desired destination.
Knowledge and application of knowledge are two different things. It takes an intelligent and creative mind to apply knowledge. A lot of things I know I had learnt outside the walls of a school, school will not teach you about life, that, you also learn on your own.
In conclusion, I am by no means undermining the importance of school, neither am I overemphasising it. There is and should be a difference between one who is learned and one who isn't. A farmer who had studied Agriculture in school shouldn't be the same as a farmer who never went to school. Application of theories and calculation of expected yield among other things should make a difference.
Thank You For Reading 🖤🖤
I have the boy at school in the fourth grade, I don't know to what extent he is studying there or how he is prepared, but when he comes home, he only comes with good grades. I think that today you either study at school or you don't go at all. To do a school just to have a diploma but not to have prepared, it is not possible. It affects the future of any child!