Is School Really a Scam?

The phrase ‘school na scam’ have become a common notion amidst the youth of Nigeria.
It would have been okay if this was just another means to crack a joke or jester like most of the phrases that have surfaced amidst the Nigerian youths.

Unfortunately, this is not the case, instead the phrase ‘school na scam’ have become an underlying philosophy amidst virtually every Nigerian youth and consequently have become tantamount to most persons losing faith in the educational system of the nation.

Is school really a scam? I want you to put that question in mind while I carefully scrutinize and analyze the origin of this philosophy that is almost becoming a norm in our generation.

Wikipedia defines a school as an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of the teachers.

What this basically refers to is that a school is an institution of learning where formal education is instilled in the hearts and minds of students.

Now, what’s a scam, Cambridge dictionary succinctly describes a scam as a dishonest or an illegal plan or activity especially one for making money.

Prima facie, you won’t be able to put a finger on how an institution of learning have suddenly become a dishonest or illegal plan for making money.

You see, what the term ‘school na scam’ means amidst Nigerian youths is that after investing financially and spending most of their time obtaining a college degree, and during this period, bogus promises of financial stability and freedom have been promised.

Many a student have graduated and found out that things weren’t that way, or to put in a better way, they have been ‘scammed’.
How true is this assertion by the way?
Well, a recent study conducted by The Punch discovered that 58.9% of HND graduates are unemployed, 49.55% of OND graduates are unemployed and 39.75% of BSc holders are unemployed.

While it’s so easy to blame these statistics on educational institutions, you should consider that there are more factors than one that is the bane of this unemployment rate.

For one, there’s the economic downturn of the nation, indolence and laxity of the graduates, faulty academic foundation of the graduates, and results of the graduates that can only be described as ridiculous.

You see, humans are experts in playing the blame game, while it is veracious to an extent that the economic recession of the nation and some institutions of learning do not exactly teach employable skills.
It isn’t apposite to put this blame on education or school.

So, you can properly understand what I am saying, I will share 2 stories of persons that I know personally who have made headway as a result of education.
The first person was a student of electrical electronics engineering at OAU, but as he discovered the paradigm shift in technology, he began to attend programming lectures.
Interestingly, after he graduated, he applied for a scholarship for both electrical electronics engineering and as a programmer, he was given a scholarship as a programmer, and a job and presently he has his doctorate degree and is still in Potsdam in New York.

The second person, was a student of Microbiology and graduated as the second-best graduating student of his department, he instantly got a scholarship abroad and presently have gotten his masters and his soaring high in all facets of life.
These opportunities would not have been gotten if these persons had said and believed ‘school na scam’.

Little wonder Benjamin Franklin, the man who discovered electricity said, ‘An investment in knowledge, pays the best interest’.

This statement was further corroborated by Jeff Rich when he said ‘If you think education is expensive, try ignorance’.

Conclusively, while it is evident that the phrase “school na scam” merely originated from other factors and not school itself, (which means Nigerian youths are merely barking at the wrong tree).
The solutions to the factors that evidently skyrocketed the rate of unemployment in the nation is the student receiving basic and fundamental education in a school that not only teaches.
But, inculcates values like hard work and resilience as well as teaches the students employable skills, a school like Universal White Hall College.
The purpose of inculcating hard work and resilience is so that the students will know that it is only those who are diligent in their businesses that will stand before kings and not mean men.