If you're a student in
Nigeria, then you must have heard the controversial "School Na
Scam" slang currently parading itself in arguably every tertiary
and secondary institution across the country. The ardent bearers of this slang
believe and profess, in a metaphorical way, that tertiary institutions are
equivalent to scam, that these tertiary institutions are a fraudulent scheme
that will extort from us and only offer in return what will prove to be of no
relevance at the end. As such, they (the proponents of ‘school na scam’ slang)
emphasize that it is better to drop out of school after having your senior
school certificate to find a living and begin a new phase of life rather than
press further.
Without any doubt, the
basis of this belief is centred on the impression that graduating from the
university does not necessarily give the assurance that our mission towards
financial security and a better standard of living will be successful. So,
instead of spending time, money and energy on acquiring a certificate that
could end up having little or no relevance, it is better to channel those
resources elsewhere.
But how true can this be?
Has school become a genuine metaphor for scam? While I feel inclined to give a
quick, direct response to these two questions, especially the second, it is
better to first dig deep and explore their overall credibility, starting with
tracing the origin of this slang.
“School
Na Scam” is a song title by Zlatan Ibile, a prominent indigenous rapper and
graduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. And its release coincides with this
moment when even active learners of various levels are struggling to validate
the common sense in obtaining a higher learning certificate, when employment
opportunities are scarce and virtually beyond acquisition. Little wonder why
the song was quick to resonate with them, especially the line that draws a
striking financial comparison between two people: an O-level citizen living in
affluence and a graduate struggling to make ends meet.
Surely, those who profess
this slang have the ground to exert their belief considering the current state
of the nation's economy and how the government has floundered in its essential
obligation to ensure that the windows of opportunity are constantly opened to
her graduates immediately after their passage from the university. But will the
incompetence of the government be blamed on school? The answer is no.
Education still offers
the best and surest path to rising above the average standard of living in
Nigeria. Though many may continue to feel skeptical about its assurance, the
statistical evidence gathered from the recent Unified Tertiary Matriculation
Examination does well to affirm this declaration. A massive 1.8 million
candidates veered for admission into various tertiary institutions across the
country via JAMB's Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) while
another reported 20,000 candidates enrolled in the IJMB program.
These numbers tell the
hidden story of how Nigerians still view advanced learning as an integral step
they must take in order to achieve their different aspirations that culminate
with financial security. To this set of persons, higher education translates to
critical thinking, refined communication skill, greater competence and other
social skills. And this means more opportunities in workplaces as industries
are always in search of talented individuals in their respective fields.
Though these
opportunities may seem limited, those who possess the skills (acquired from
tertiary institutions) are still at an advantage. They can find multiple ways
to improvise and use their skills effectively in any form these opportunities
may come. Take my friend Tammy as a typical example. Tammy is a graduate of
English and Literary Studies, Niger Delta University, whose love for teaching
English as a second language and providing students with useful educational and
secular information resulted in the creation of this blog. Instead of going from
one principal's office to another in search of a job as an English teacher, he
jumped on the speed wagon that modern technology has provided through blogging
and social media platforms like Facebook to carry out his profession even more
effectively than the physical classroom teacher. This makes him a self-made
entrepreneur. If those students who exclaim “school na scam” take time to observe deeply,
they will also find other ways to put their knowledge and certificate to use
without worrying about government provisions.
There may be hard
evidence to suggest why school has become a scam, but the proponents of this
slang are those who have either lost faith in education or their own
intellectual ability to attain academic success in college. And that is why the
slang has failed to inspire anything positive in our communities. Instead, it
has resulted in a fraudulent internet scheme popularly known as “Yahoo”. This is indeed an
amusing paradox because scammers are the ones calling school a scam.
Therefore, any student
who finds repose in this assertion should quickly have a change of mindset and
regard it as another form of distraction to avoid. School is not a scam. But
some misplaced perceptions have given the wrong impression that it has failed
in its responsibility to guarantee our financial security even when that is
really not its job.
Maybe what we all need is
a timely reminder on the simple definition of school to realize its primary
responsibility. A school (whether primary, secondary or tertiary) is an
institution where people receive formal education. And nobody can stake a claim
that it hasn't shown competence in this regard.
© Victor Wisdom
