A SOCIETY IN NEED OF TRUE EDUCATION

students acquiring education but unsure of what the future holds

In when education becomes indoctrination, an essay published by The Guardian Newspaper on the 3^rd and 4^th of November 2015, true education was defined as: “the development of the mind and the whole being through learning and putting to work what was learnt” according to the writer, truly educated people are said to be: “people that are original, resourceful and creative, who dream dreams and think out of the box to attain their dreams and fulfill their passions. They are those that acquire the type of education that liberate their passions and help them to reach their set goals…”

In a society where some form of creativities and technicalities are crippled and relegated because we have been made to believe only failures do them.

In a society where a skillful hairdresser is judged by his/her inability to solve mathematics and young persons’ intelligence are judged by their inability to pass universities entrance examinations.

In a society where only one institution of learning is recognized; without which we are seen as uneducated.

In a society where eloquence in English and other foreign languages is the measure of intelligence and being university student is the measure of excellence. How do we acquire true education?

We let our brains deep sleep and expect others to think for us, our lack of initiative and self-esteem makes us to believe whatever was passed down to us by the whites without checking if they are good for us or not.

How can we be made to believe that out of all institutions of learning through which we can be educated and made relevant in the society, only one must be recognized?

We are like sheep led to slaughter; our inability to check packages passed down to us is our vault.

Our problem is not only in the over-glorification of universities ahead of other higher institutions of learning, even though it is one of the most damaging ones.Our major problem is in our lack of understanding of what it really means to be educated. Someone defined education as equipping people to be relevant in the society thus it doesn’t matter what type of education you acquire and where you acquire it, if it doesn’t make you relevant in your society, it is a waste and you need true education. There is no way you will acquire the type of education that helps to liberate your passion and achieve your goals without becoming relevant in the society. That’s what true education does.

youths reading in the library to educate themselves more

I have been in a church where the pastor called out the youths for prayer and the prayer went thus: “among you we will have doctors, lawyers, professors, bankers and presidents” then I wondered what happen to other brown collar jobs like entertainments, sports, art and so on. If everyone is the president who will they preside over? If everyone is a lawyer who will they defend or prosecute? If everyone is a professor who will they lecture? Most of the youths have been made to believe that the only way they can be seen as successful is to end up with white collar jobs and trying to live by people’s definition of success; they end up with indoctrination instead of true education.

Education is not only about formal education and the certificates, even an illiterate (someone that can’t read and write) can be seen as truly educated. being educated is not limited to a type of education but here we limit being educated to anyone with formal education alone and this is why it is difficult to acquire true education and become a success because when schooling becomes indoctrination, only the truly educated folks becomes successful.

Some parents pay millions of naira to have their children in the university, they think they are giving the best to their children but if that isn’t the right education for them, they have only succeeded in indoctrinating them instead of getting them true education. It is disheartening that all the parents does these days is to make their children live by their own definitions of success. They make them acquire the wrong type of education because they believe that is the only way they can become successful as the society makes it look when they should have studied them, know what their passions and talents are and give them the type of education that suits. Some people say no knowledge is waste and even when it’s obvious some of them are pure wastes they still believe in such unverified saying. If a man goes to school to study a course not patenting to his passion and never practice it all his life, is the knowledge waste or not? Instead of wasting time acquiring the wrong type of education, is it not more profitable to acquire the right education?

a model doing her thing having acquired
 the type of  education required

Our society is proliferated with unverified beliefs that does not necessarily add value to us and these makes it hard for most of us to have access to true education.

Relegating certain jobs for people we consider failures are the bane of our society. However, even people that run away from these jobs here go abroad to do what could be considered worse and when they return we hail them heroes.

The skyrocket level of unemployment here is due to our unwillingness to embrace true education.

I struggle to believe that the blacks might never really overcome their slave mentality but our lack of self-esteem is the problem, we need to start taking every job with pride and respect those that are involved in them.

The insatiable crave for indoctrination which we call education here has produced more employees than employers and without employers, employees becomes unemployed, perhaps jobless. This reality is here with us.

It is in giving true education that people can be deployed instead of been employed; they become employers of labour.

The number of students graduating from the universities seeking to be employed is far higher than the number of jobs and employers available in the labour market. Yet each year we have not less than 1.5 million youths sitting for universities entrance exams, only to become graduates and start looking for jobs. We call that education but if such can’t add to the values of humanity and make people relevant in their societies, it is a needless indoctrination.

The problem is our thought pattern; in this part of the world, if after secondary school education a boy says to his parents that he want to go into music, the parents will chastise him and instead of sending him to a music school to liberate his passion and eventually achieve his goals; they will send him to the university. The worst is that, he might not study a course that is music related. Most parents here lack basic understanding of what it means to be truly educated. An uneducated person is the person who doesn’t know anything about his life's visions and goals and how to pursue them; one who does not have what it takes to succeed in his chosen lifestyle. Thus one can have PhD and still be uneducated.

It is worrisome, how we lost insight and see with our mouths in this part of the world. The so called educated ones only see under the lens of the indoctrination they call education. We glorify English language so much that it has become the measurement of how educated one is but we forget that most of the Indians, Lebanese and other foreigners that comes to set up companies here and employ our English speaking graduates, use them, mistreat them and pay them peanuts can’t speak English. They acquired true education and became employers of labour but we acquired indoctrination and serve them even in our own land.

We are grandiloquently witty-less and it makes me wonder if we have ability to think rightly. For instance, someone studied zoology in the university and was voted as the president of a nation because it’s believed he is well educated, in fact more educated than his predecessors and when he failed he was blamed. For God sake, what has zoology got to do with government? Are we animals that he spent years studying in the university? That was like trying to judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree but that's exactly what such indoctrination does.

Messi(Right) became 5 times world footballer of the
 year because he acquired true education

Until we embrace true education, we might never have a stable, crime-free and depend-less society. Since university is the most respected institution of learning, graduates has certain prides and feels there are some jobs they shouldn’t do and if they can’t make ends meet they resort to crimes. The same goes to those that are seen as uneducated because they aren’t graduates; those whose talents are relegated, rendered useless and non-profitable. We need to change our mentality and ways of seeing things. For instance we call musicians riff-raffs but most of them are living their dreams and are relevant in the society. Jay-Jay Okocha and Nwankwo both Nigerian’s ex-footballers now are now employers of labour, they employ graduates in their businesses even though they aren’t one. What they had was true education and it translated into success for many to benefit.

Until we begin to think outside the box and not just accept packages passed down to us by the colonial masters without checking if they are good for us or not, we will never become a developed nation.

C. Ronaldo is one of the most sort after
footballers because he acquired true education

To have a truly educated society, everyone has great work to do, not just the government.

The parents must start studying the strengths and talents of their children and give them the type of education that can help them translate into success.

The students in their craving for true education must understand it is not all about formal education in the higher institutions. For literacy sake, it is important for young folks to have at least secondary school education after which they should acquire the type of education that relates to their passions and talents.

The society as a whole should understand that no job is for failures, we must learn to respect people for their chosen professions.

All professionals, regardless of their fields must take pride in what they do and not allow people to look down on them; they should work on their self-esteem.

Finally, the government should invest in other institutions of learning through which people can acquire the type of education needed for them to be truly educated. Over-concentration on university education must be moderated so people can get the type of education best for them and not be seen as failures.

This essay is an idea of Great_Minds_Initiatives_International in support of TRUE EDUCATION CAMPAIGN (TEC). To be a part of this movement of great minds; to support or/and sponsor the initiative, please send “TEC” to +2348163800077 either via WhatsApp or text message.

written by Soul'e Rhymez