It has become some sort of norm for people(the youths most especially) in my country to chant these very words that almost everyone is familiar with today:
“School is a scam."
Image is mine..
I can't quite remember when it began to trend but I do remember that it trended so well that it became popularly accepted most especially by the youths of the nation. It was quite alarming to see the number of youth that actually believed that school is a scam even though they were actively pursuing their education.
There is one thing that we can all agree on and it's the fact that schooling and the whole process of getting an education is quite the task, if not a daunting one. In my country, I wonder everyday why the education system in my country is supposed to be the way it is currently because there are many things that are being done that are so wrong and they go unchecked, which also makes me wonder what exactly it is that the authorities are doing about the whole situation. There are a lot of things to be said about the education system in my country and it is usually not things of joy or pride because as it stands, there are really not a lot of things to be proud of and the very thing that the people are struggling to get to at least hold on to is also being mismanaged.
At the end of the day it is quite understandable that a lot of the youths believe strongly that education is a scam and is totally useless in the quest for a better life because there are so many things to be done to make education and being educated a very fun experience by the government, but the government chooses not to do anything to help the younger generation and they only remember the younger generation when it is campaign season and they need the votes of the young adults. During that period, promises will be made and as soon as whoever gets into the seat of power, they immediately forget what they promised and the cycle begins again.
Personally, I don't believe that education is a scam because the benefits outweigh the disadvantages and the disadvantages only exist due to human nature. There's also the culture among youths where they look down on a particular field of study because according to them it is useless and the reason being there's supposedly no place of work for someone who studied that particular course in the country, which I don't believe to be true because again, the government is to blame for encouraging this misconception which has led to the further deterioration of the education system. Which shouldn't be so.
In big 2025, the education system should have been better than it is, but it's not and though it is a tragedy, the journey for a better life still has to be made and because of the way the world is, education still remains one of the keys to success. Getting a degree in whatever field is still very important if one wants to land a well paying job because a university certificate is usually one of the requirements needed by companies offering employment opportunities to the masses. Being educated also helps to enlighten us and make us see everything better and our approach to a lot of things changes especially when it comes to problem solving.
With the way the world is structured and how education has been made easily accessible now, choosing not to be educated is not going to be of a benefit to anyone at the end of the day. In the past week, I have applied some things that I have learned in school and not only the past week, every day of my life since I started this journey, I have always had something to apply in my daily life which is always of great help to me and those around me. My thought process has changed and I have noticed a change in the way I do my things now which is way different from the way I used to do my things before getting into the higher institution.
So, maybe education is not really a scam after all, as they say.
WHAT CAN REALLY BE DONE?
There's plenty of restructuring that the school system is in dire need of in my country. Most importantly, the welfare of students should be put first before anything. The welfare of students has to do with their health(both physical and mental health), their safety(many schools in the country do not have safe environments for their students), their rights(how they are treated by the lecturers that teach them), and most importantly the opportunities that are meant for students alone.
When all these things are taken into cognizance first, student experience in a tertiary institution will be better than it is and students will actually be motivated to learn. What students need is not more buildings that do not belong to them, what they need is for the government to properly prioritize their welfare, that way their education improves.
