₦airaland Forum

If there is one thing I've learnt in this life is not to generalize, surprisingly or not, I didn't learn that in school. When I hear people say "school na scam" I feel the need to point out that it depends on the course one is studying. For courses like Medicine, school is not only not a scam but a necessity, as for the others, formal education might not be necessary.

Just two weeks ago I discovered that what I've spent the last 5 years studying (6 if you include last year) can be learnt in less than a year. Also the most important thing I learnt in school, which was in my senior secondary school days, was that I don't need a teacher to teach me, as long as I can read I can learn anything.

The truth of the matter is that the education system is outdated, at least the one we have here. School is meant to prepare one for life but what we have is the opposite. I had a lecturer in my year 3 who was always saying that grades don't matter it is about what you know. I never got an A in any of his course. Last two years I went for my Industrial Training, that was when I understood what he was trying to tell us. It was then I knew I know nothing.

In school we are made to cram formulas and diagrams but in the real world we are given those and asked to interpret the result. In my field we still perform complicated calculations involving series of iterations on paper while in the real world they use python and Matlab. In school we are made to work alone and any form of collaboration is seen as cheating even in classwork, assignment and projects while in the real world teamwork is a virtue. I can go on and on as to how for a course like mine, school na scam. Unfortunately I did not realize this on time, maybe I would have dropped out if I did. Now it is too late to drop out as I have less than 7 months remaining. The major reason though while I haven't given dropping out much thought is because I know that this my stand on school being a scam only applies to my undergraduate degree program as I'm so looking forward to be done with it so I can start the more interesting 2nd degree.

A lot of people will continue to fall for this cheap scam unless a better alternative is provided. One thing I discovered after gaining admission was that the greatest hindrance to my education was schooling (I can't explain what I mean by this, maybe later).