Is School Really A Scam?

 By Precious Fasipe 

‘School is a sham!' I’m sure you’ve heard this claim before, or probably even said it. It is a common slogan echoed by many frustrated Nigerian students due to one or many experiences they have had in school. But is school really a scam?

A school is simply an institution that provides instructions, and its main functions are to educate and socialise students.

However, a scam is a dishonest scheme. It can also be said to be a deceptive scheme or trick used to cheat someone out of something. This usually involves both the person who benefits from the scam (the scammer) and the victim (the scammed). “School na scam” in this context means school is a fraud, school is a lie, we do not need school, the school system is corrupt, and someone is benefiting from it.

Education

Education is actually the major factor that determines one’s future. Education provides stability in life, and it is something no one can take away from you. Don’t get me wrong: education doesn’t only mean spending hours within the four walls of a school; it can also mean getting basic knowledge and enlightening information about a particular thing. One cannot accomplish anything unless they are educated about it –following the above definition.

Take, for example, learning to drive a car. This takes practice and getting educated by someone who already knows how to drive. You could even teach yourself to drive, thereby educating yourself. At least, the first person to ever drive a car taught himself (in the person of Karl Benz, July 3, 1886).

Is school a scam?

Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Larry Elison, Steve jobs, Mark Zukerberg, Mercy Johnson, and even Wizkid are examples of successful people who woke up one day and decided that they didn’t need school to make it. Some of them were even written off by their teachers or schools and told that they would never amount to anything in life due to a challenge they faced either psychologically or emotionally.

We know that the educational system in Nigeria is messed up. Students spend nearly half of their lives and childhood within the four walls of school, from crèche to university, only to find themselves unemployed or unsatisfied at the end of the day.

Many students struggle to pass certain courses in school or even graduate because the school did not provide them with the courses they initially applied for, and they simply want to go through the motion and graduate to satisfy their parents whose efforts got them there.

Some chose to study a particular course in line with the profession their parents wanted them to pursue or to see the proud smile on their parents’ faces after acquiring a college degree. It is quite painful to see students struggling in school all because their parents want to be called “Mama doctor!”(doctor’s mother).

The high unemployment rate in Nigeria is alarming. Many graduates are out there on the street looking for something to do after spending many years and money in school. All because many Nigerian universities do not offer practical courses that would expose the students to diverse opportunities relating to their course of study, but only limiting them to teaching and other low-earning jobs in the country. This is very discouraging to students in general, as many of them don’t know what to expect after graduation.

The ASUU strike is another discouragement, especially for students in public universities. Unfortunately, this is something they cannot avoid as it has become a recurring decimal in the country. A student ends up spending extra years in university because the Federal Government refused to pay appropriate salaries to its universities staff. To these students, school would seem to be a scam.

On the other hand, we still know of a number of people who achieved success as a result of their college education, such as Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple. Many students have followed their passion and become successful in their field of study. 

Students still graduate and get good jobs in or even outside their field of study; you might say it was due to connections because we can’t dispute the fact that Nigeria is corrupt; but many genuinely succeeded irrespective of how messed up the educational system is.

By being well-educated and holding a college degree, you increase your chances for better career opportunities and doors to improve yourself. Your being able to read and write is a plus in your quest to succeed in life.

Finally, the question “is school a scam?” actually requires personal answers because many people dropped out of school and still became successful—but honestly speaking, it doesn’t work for everybody as some stay in school, graduate and still end up being successful. Although school may be seen as a scam to you and not to others, my advice would be to stay where your passion is. “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion,” says George Hegel.

*Fasipe, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Lagos