“School na scam” would probably rank as the most enunciated phrase in universities across Nigeria. One could simply be walking along the road and hear a group of students echo it especially after a test or exam has been completed. I personally must have said it on some occasions when frustrations start to creep in and I question my quest for a Bachelor’s degree.(I always wondered why there were no degrees for spinsters or married people)

You would hardly hear people say that school is a scam once they have gotten abroad or when they think about Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge etc. In the investigation of this fraud case however, the example of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg always comes to light. The billionaires who didn’t necessarily say that school is a scam but acted it out by dropping out of college (Harvard to be precise) to face their companies and now they have the results to show for it.

The fact that these two rich men dropped out can make it seem that University education at its height can be despised.

Is University Education then a bother?

Is it unnecessary to get a degree?

You are probably about to answer this question in light of how universities do not offer the ‘practical’ skills required to make it in the business or career world and the theoretical weight is too much for the brain to bear. The real bone of contention is the definition of education. From the situations of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, it can’t be said that they did not have an education, because they had to learn a whole lot while facing their companies.
Education has never been merely a process of acquiring certificates and being placed in a hierarchy of classes. Education is a becoming.

Education does not only take place as an academic pursuit, it is a part of all-round individual growth. Once education has been redefined, the goal no longer becomes merely achieving, but becoming. The great thing about such an approach to education is that the responsibility is not solely that of the system but also the individual in the process. This is where all the words like passion and determination come in, words I will leave the motivational speakers to work with.

An examination and the results of an examination are usually assumed to be a reflection of knowledge in the academic environment. However, this is not necessarily the case, because all you answer is what is provided in the question paper, and not necessarily the application of the course. In real life situations, things are not simply graded on a 100% scale as growth has no limits. This is why you would always see the quote “Learning never ends”.

Learning requires the formality of a university, but is also strongly hinged on practicability and problem solving. It is the way we survive, and improve the way we live. Education is basically a vector quantity and once it is embarked upon without any purpose, it always ends in frustration and disorganization. Education is the engine for growth and development in any society. When people are truly educated, they become agents of change, and not just national liabilities waiting for the next exam or certificate to make an attempt at proving themselves.

It is not completely false that the university education has traces of fraudulence in its bid to educate the citizens. Nevertheless, it is left to those being educated to know what they want out of it in the end, by becoming educated in the area of their interests. This means that for some people, their education doesn’t reside in the pretext of a university, and they will have to find that where it is. Some other people will need the degrees so they to have a good temperature to face life and that will demand a lot of work on their paths. What matters is that you become what you want to be and not let any scam-like circumstances change that for you.

P.S. – This is not an encouragement to drop out of school. It is simply a reminder that you should go for what you want and get it.
Learn, and become!
Yours in growth,
Elushade Oluwatumininu