Education is a very important aspect in the development of any nation, the importance of education to can never be underestimated. Education not only promote better life but very crucial for the overall human development in
cognitive and shaping of character. In one the great Nelson Mandela quote he said ” Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world ”
In Nigeria today there have been a lot of transformation in the educational sector. Acquisition of knowledge is now made easy with the availability of schools, both public and private in nature with varying charges.
In consequence now in Nigeria we have millennial of graduates both employed and unemployed, with the unemployed outnumbering the employed and graduates are still being rolled out annually.
The problem of Nigeria today is not solely the unavailability of jobs but the unemployability of our graduates..Permit me to say In Nigeria today we have so many educated illiterates. The malady of our education system is deep rooted to the structure of our education system.
Nigeria is operating a 6-3-3-4 system of education, which was introduced in 1982 to replace the 6-5-4 system, according to experts, this system was designed to inject functionality into the Nigerian school system, by producing graduates who would be able to make use of their hands, head and the heart (the 3Hs of education).
But as we all know that Nigeria is one of the best policy makers in the world but always not good at implementing such policies.
According to Martin Luther King, Jr. “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
In Nigeria today emphasis is no longer on the core element of true education, which is critical thinking and ability to proffer solutions to real life problems,That’s what is been meant by true intelligence.
As an insider in the system i can categorically say that the focus in most of our institutions today is not on knowledge acquisition but basically on certification, the joy of learning is being sucked out and education reduced to a dry, soulless process of ‘delivery’ of prescribed syllabus material,which is aimed at producing a standard test with prescribed outcome measures.
This assessment driven approach is damaging to student intellectual development as well as also political and social development, the result of teaching where there is no scope for challenge, disagreement or the open exploration of
alternative answers to life’s deepest questions is closed minded.
Students raised with this system are ill equipped to face real life challenges,they are not trained to think for themselves, the emphasis is just to read and pass some certain examinations.. Some student employ the La cram la pour la forget approach Where they cram to pass exam and afterward they can hardly discuss about the subject matter.
In conclusion our graduate cannot be blamed solely for their unemployability, the system should be looked at, there are many loopholes in the system which various research from our scholars have pointed out, I recommend the system be redesigned from the result and certification driven approach to the real knowledge driven approach
.where we don’t have trained sheep but creative, independent thinkers; confident individuals who don’t expect someone else to tell them the right answer but who know how to think for themselves and find new ways forward.
Undergraduate also should put effort in learning new skills while in school, make yourself marketable, work on your communication skill,human relation skill etc,be an independent thinker and profer solution to societal problems. That’s what I call the real entrepreneurs, You are the master of ur own destiny.
Written by:
Sheriffdeen Lameed
Kogi State University, Anyigba
