Over the years, Nigerian youth and the entirety of the populace have adopted the phrase ‘education na scam’ as a slang for daily use.
In typical Naija style, a phrase whose roots have now become obscure, appears to have come to stay!
It is highly concerning that those who should see education as a path to the future are the very ones who believe it is a scam. Sometimes, you will find that those who engage in this saying are academically sound.
In an attempt to discover whether education is indeed a scam or not, Roland Bayode sought the opinions of a cross-section of people.
Students’ views on the popular phrase
A student of the University of Benin, Emmanuel Jegede believes that education is the only tool for refining people. When reacting to why people might view education as a scam, he says, “When you compare education to material earnings, which serve as a marker of success, it doesn’t tally. What we get in our educational sector is poor.”
Jegede spoke further on why people continue to strive to go to university. He retorted, “People attend school because the system values having a degree as essential and as proof of competence”
However, he concluded that this phrase will have an effect on the prospective student. “When you continue to tell people that something is fraudulent, they unconsciously become averse to it. This in turn affects their attitude to education.”
Esther Oguntuase, a second year student of Mass Communication at Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA) in Ondo State does not believe that education is not a scam.
“Most people just follow the trend to say what people are saying. Those that coined the phrase did so, perhaps because of the situation of the country.”
Esther opines that Nigeria does not even encourage education. She syas, “Education is not being put anywhere cogent in Nigeria’s economy. Even after some people spend four, five, or seven years studying, there are no jobs available after graduation.”
Oguntuase continues, “Some even take jobs earning N10,000 or N20,000. After spending millions in fees, accomodation and other expenses, this is undeniably disappointing and discouraging.”
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Olajuwon Ibrahim of the University of Ilorin shared his view that education itself is not a scam but the system of operations is.
In his reaction, he added that many students have dropped out because well-known entrepreneurs such Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook did not finish at University.
Non-students give their opinion
Asere Maryanne, a journalist and real estate manager from Kenya, disagrees with the phrase.
“If it were not for education, there won’t be development. There would be no doctors, no teachers and no engineers. So, education is not a scam”
She disclosed that those who see education as a scam do not know its value. Asere believes that the fact that people continue to aspire to attend University indicates that education is an asset that people are willing to invest in.
The journalist advised that students should delete this negative mentality and focus on their ambitions. She added that the government should have a plan to eradicate unemployment and ensure that graduates are well employed.
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A graduate of AAUA, Rabiu Olanrewaju also acknowledges that this negative perspective of education is rooted in corruption. “Education is not and will never be a scam”, she says.
“Nigeria creates a lot of courses but at the end, only students of the so-called prestigious courses like Medicine, Law and Engineering get jobs. What’s the essence of the other courses?”
“My point is that people will see education as a scam if they don’t make money from it. But then, education is not solely for making money which I feel is the biggest misconception ever! Being educated makes you stand out and able to solve problems.”
“Our system here doesn’t train us to independently think on how to solve problems but to just pass and use your ‘chemistry degree to get a job in the banking sector’. Imagine this!”, he said.
Olanrewaju continues, “Despite the idiotic ideology of education being a scam, yet people go to school. One major reason I see now is because of the widespread of internet fraud. Some young adults know they cannot misbehave under their parents’ roofs. So they gain admission, leave home and try their hands at illicit activities. I know a person that this happened to, even though his parents aren’t even overly strict.”
In correcting this, Rabiu added that government should empower the youth and create employment opportunities.
Mr. Micheal Olu-olefin, a real estate manager from Abuja explained that education is not a scam. However according to him, the structured process of western education is a complete scam.
“Some may see education as a scam because many graduates are poorer than their uneducated counterparts, who are successful and strikingly rich.”
Explaining further, he said society has been made to believe that education is the only means to succeed. “That is the scam”, he says.
Education: What is the way forward?
When asked for the best way forward, Michael opines that this damaging mentality will only be corrected when graduates begin to obtain gainful employment.
“The government has work to do; to provide employment opportunities because this is the major cause of the problem in the society”.
Having said that, a simple search through social media platform, Twitter, reveals that most people value education and do not subscribe to the notion that it is a scam. Many even believe that it is their fast track ticket out of Nigeria. Sad but true.
There is a saying that, ‘Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well’. Hence students should remain focused on their ambitions. The government and concerned stakeholders also should restructure the school system.
The ultimate aim should be to wipe out the mentality of ‘education na scam’ for good.
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Adebowale A. Alade
25/08/2021 at 3:08 amGood compilation, NewsRoundTheClock.
There’s more to this should we decide to address the misconception.
Thank you for your time and effort.
Education is and will never be a scam!