EDUCATION WITHOUT CREATIVITY IS EQUAL TO ILLITERACY AND BACKWARDNESS

EDUCATION WITHOUT CREATIVITY IS EQUAL TO ILLITERACY AND BACKWARDNESS

By Akpan Jackson Nseabasi (ACIBN)

What is the real meaning of the word education? Is it all about celebrating a particular number of years in the university or bar or whatever you call it without anything to show for it? The lay man on the street learning a particular vocation or trade is more educated than anyone from any university in Nigeria because he is creative. The problem of Nigeria is not the government as many will put it but our main problem and fundamental problem is the system of education we are operating in this country. With my knowledge about the system of education in the advanced countries, Nigeria will need a total removal of the present day educational system and the adoption of the concept of creativity and inventions as a new policy and way or system of education.

My definition of education is the ability of “impacting and creating” in order to “solve” a “problem”. There is a big difference between the educational system of advanced countries and the so called Nigerian Educational System. We are only producing “educated illiterates” and every year we push them to the NYSC camp and from there to the labour market. We cannot continue like this.

The love of the so called educated Nigerians for educational achievement is something that really makes me laugh. One thing is vital and very important; Nigeria will still be at the back side of advancement and development if we do not do away with the theories that cannot invent a common mosquito net in the country. Every year we celebrate fresh graduates, fresh professionals, fresh barristers, fresh medical doctors, fresh accountants and bankers but nothing to show for it. It’s all the same theory of speaking good English but no creativity. It makes education more of a scam. Let’s learn a lesson from countries like China, Japan and others who do not spent so much on getting all the qualifications of the academic world but they are controlling the world with the latest technology and inventions.

Today is 31st of July 2021 and in the next few weeks or months fresh graduates will be ushered into the world of the labour market. The same thing happens in the secondary schools and other institutions of higher learning. But one paramount question that we need to ask ourselves is this: how many of these graduates can add value to nation building and development through creativity and invention? How many of these young school leavers are creative, able to use their initiative and creative ideas to bring a new path to success that will employ at least 5 people through their creative ideas? The answer is none of them have this tenacity and ability to do that. Our youths immediately after their NYSC program run to the nearest business center to print CVs and start looking for jobs where there is no job. One begins to ask why did they spent 4 years in the university and 1 year in the NYSC camp. Was it all about job seeking? From this small analysis one can see that the main problem is that the educational system in Nigeria only prepares us for the business center to type our CVs and not to build new creative ideas. We can never attain the level of development like America, United Kingdom, France, Japan, China and the host of others who have benefited from Creative and Professional Educational System (CPES) in all areas of education in their countries with this our present day system of education in Nigeria.

It is very important to note that the educational system that Nigeria is presently running cannot be compared to what we have in America, United Kingdom, France, Japan, China and the host of others who have benefited from Creative and Professional Educational System (CPES) in all areas of education in their countries. Building professionals and making their children self-reliance is one beautiful thing about the educational system of western and developed nations. Today may rich parents sent their children to other countries of the world where the concept of Creative and Professional Educational System is in place to train them while here in Nigeria what our universities are producing as graduates are not better than our fore fathers who only had standard six as education. What a shame on our educational system in this country.

?I CALL FOR A CHANGE IN OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. ?ENOUGH OF CELEBRATING THEORIES WITHOUT CREATIVITY AND INVENTION.

FROM AKPAN JACKSON NSEABASI (ACIBN)