OLUKOYA Isaac A.
“Education is a matter between experience and knowledge it has nothing to do with school or college certificate” – unknown
While I was growing up, my Dad used to tell me, “Study hard, so that you can work for a ‘sexy’ company.” In my school, my teacher will always say to us, “study hard so that you can get a good job after school”, but no one ever told me that I should study hard so that I can own a good company. In a nutshell, school raises children to become loyal employees and not good employers.
As I grow older, after failing ample of tests and examinations, I had thought within myself if I would ever make it in life since the key to a successful life is getting good grades in school. I had also thought that even if I graduate, would I be able to get a good job as my dad and teachers always say? Because even those with good grades still end up struggling like they never went to school. Why is it so?
Robert Kiyosaki in one of his books says, “I have always woòndered why money is not a subject taught in school. Day after day, our teachers drummed this into our heads; ‘Go to school to get a good job. If you don’t go to school, you won’t get a good job’. This caused me to ask my teacher ‘isn’t the reason for getting a good job to make money?’ If money is the objective of getting a job, why not get right to the point and just teach us about money?” He said “my question was never answered.”
I have thrown out these same questions to many of my colleagues at school who argued that, “It isn’t just about making money; it could be about making a change.” I asked how many of our teachers, lecturers, rectors or VC’s had made significant changes to the society.” My question was never answered.
These however, made me to investigate and understand that;
➢ Our curriculum was designed, created and developed by people who have little or no idea and knowledge about the real world.
➢ Schools train students for the job not for the creation of jobs.
➢ Schools are about how much money one can make while serving others and not “how much money I can make.”
➢ Schools train us on how to be loyal servants and not how to become responsible masters.
➢ Schools are about getting good grades to work for a good company and not about getting good grades to become the owner of a good company.
➢ Schools are about studying and studying to get more certificates for promotional purposes at their work places and not about having financial freedom.
➢ If the objective of going to school is to make money, school teaches little or nothing about money, which is why graduates end up facing the same economic crises as non-graduates.
➢ School curriculum is so archaic that even employers of labor has tagged Nigerian graduates as “unemployable”
➢ School curriculum is obsolete and outdated that to get a good job; you need to have at least 5years experience. Does it mean one have to wait for years to start working for money?
After considering these, the question I usually ask myself as a student is, “would the education I acquire from school be able to meet the challenges of the real world? Will I even be able to get that good job after getting that good grade?” The truth is most people do not know that the game has changed. The rules of the industrial age are no longer applicable to today’s information age.
During the industrial age, our fathers went to school, studied hard, got good grades or average grades and began with their lives. They didn’t need to study further to achieve their life aims simply because things were not changing as fast as it is now. In other words, what they learnt in school then is enough for them to live their lives.
Unfortunately, it’s a different case in this era; we go to school, get good grades and graduate to realize that we have not been adequately equipped for the outside world. As a result of this, young graduates end up facing the same challenges as non-graduates, so they adequately feel the need to keep studying to get more certificates to satisfy their current job because if they don’t, they may end up losing that job. Nothing begot this rather than using old tactics to approach the new game. The job economy is fading we are now in the skill economy; the rule has changed!
The problem one will face if one doesn’t get it right now.
➢ One will graduate to start struggling like they never went to school.
➢ Getting a good job even with a good grade is not assured: I have seen first class students riding motorcycles, I have seen graduates with good grade, learning skills because they were unable to get a job.
➢ You may graduate to start working for minimum wage. My experience during my internship at a seasoning cube company in the year 2019: I saw both ND, HND, BSC and even some with other certificates work 12 hours daily to earn the exact minimum wage while some operators who have or who don’t have even an SSCE certificates earn thrice of their pay.
What You Should Know.
➢ Your certificate does not qualify you in real life, learn skills: the world develops by skills not by certificates.
➢ Know what you want and go for it.
➢ Have passion and purpose for life.
➢ Read good books, Mathematics textbooks cannot make you successful in life.
➢ Focus on self-improvement and empowerment.
➢ Learn high income skills.
In summary, this is the time for you to get it right, as for me, I am studying very hard to have at least a nice certificate, not to work with the certificate but to have others work for me with their certificates. I have skills; I am preparing myself for real life not for good job. Remember success in school is different from success in life. Play by the new rules…
OLUKOYA Isaac A. is Advocate for change in school system