02/12/2024
AN EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBTAINING A UNIVERSITY DEGREE AND 21ST CENTURY SKILLS
SECTION 1: CAUSES
Last night, a friend shared the attached picture on a WhatsApp platform with the caption, “This is deep.” For a moment, I stared at it with my mouth agape, wondering what exactly made the picture so profound.
This morning, during my daily meditation, the image resurfaced in the deepest corners of my subconscious mind, prompting some God-given thoughts about it.
If I interpret the portrayal correctly, the artist was attempting to compare the number of students or graduates being produced annually by our universities to the limited number of available employment opportunities in the modern job market.
As always, I prefer to address challenges from their root causes, tackling them systematically like a predator stalking its prey. In this case, the root of this problem lies within the flawed foundation of the Nigerian educational system.
The Nigerian educational model was designed to mirror the British Victorian system of the 19th century. This system was created for two primary purposes by the ruling elites of Birmingham:
1. Economic Utility:
Historically, military and political rulers hoarded knowledge, keeping it inaccessible to the common people. This practice was common among the ancient Egyptian pharaohs and other classical societies, where knowledge was regarded as sacred and reserved for the elite.
The "free education" promoted during the modern period, such as the British Education Act of 1870, was a mechanism to create future factory workers (science students), cashiers (commerce students), and office secretaries (humanities students).
Have you ever wondered why the primary objective of Nigerian basic education is simply to teach reading and writing? The critical stages of a child’s cognitive development—infancy and adolescence—are consumed with rote memorization of letters and numbers.
The goal of this design is to shape how children think and process information. Psychologically, what is instilled in a child during their formative years becomes deeply ingrained in their consciousness.
Consequently, most individuals from the working-class background lose the capacity for independent thought and become subservient to the desires of the ruling elite. These individuals are groomed to be the engines that power industries owned by the upper class.
Why do we attend school to learn how to manage someone else’s wealth rather than create our own? This isn’t a coincidence—it’s a deliberate system designed for economic utility.
2. Social Control:
Another purpose of this model was to maintain societal order. From nursery school, we are taught ethics, discipline, and principles that mold us into “responsible” individuals—obedient employees who conform to the expectations of an exploitative system.
These principles, combined with moral teachings from religious leaders, act as chains that keep us bound to the whims of employers.
This model creates a rigid social and economic hierarchy that is nearly impossible to dismantle.
Have you ever noticed how children wear uniforms from the time they start school until they graduate, spending years in environments that prioritize conformity? Any child who dares to think differently or question the system is often punished.
Additionally, children with diverse learning styles, natural talents, or unique abilities are placed under the same rigid structure, expected to memorize the same content, and assessed by the same criteria. From an unbiased perspective, wouldn’t such a system seem more like a prison than a place of learning?
Now, consider the Nigerian universities depicted in the picture. These institutions produce thousands of graduates annually. Yet, a recent radio broadcast revealed that the Dangote Refinery hires more foreigners for senior and technical positions because Nigerian graduates, even those with first-class and second-class degrees, are deemed unsuitable for these roles.
Despite the Victorian educational model that creates lifelong employees, our universities today are failing to produce workers equipped for the 21st-century job market. Modern industries prioritize skills over certificates. Employers are more interested in what you can create or contribute with your hands and mind than in your academic qualifications.
However, the blame does not rest solely on universities. Many graduates also fall short. I have encountered second-class arts graduates who cannot draft a proper application letter and agricultural science graduates who refuse to engage in backyard farming.
Some computer science graduates now operate POS kiosks, yet they blame the government for their unemployment. But is it truly the role of a modern government to provide jobs in a market economy?
Conclusion
I urge every student reading this to equip themselves with diverse digital skills (visit platforms like MindLuster for free courses) while anticipating Section 2 of this write-up, where solutions will be explored.
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©®THE PENNED PHILOSOPHER, 2024.
