Which type of "education is the key"?

Desmond Tutu said - “they said: Let us pray. We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land." So it was a conspiracy to turn blessed people into oppressed people, methinks. And they’re not done yet. Now that they know we’re theologically conscious, they have this whole new vibe of education being the key to success in life. But about success, Suli Breaks in his spoken-word piece titled “American't Dream,” said: “successful people take a course of action, which coincides with their belief or passion” and I agree.

They still insist that education will increase our chances of getting great jobs, but how about “creating” rather than just “getting” a job? Did they tell that to Michael Jordan or David Beckham? I bet no, because those two are epitomes of “Outcome-based education (OBE)”. It is you and I that they’ve programmed to think that going to school and getting a “Degree” is the best, if not the only form of education.

Just take their word for it. I bet the best job that you’re likely to get after graduation is that job called “job hunting,” or perhaps one that can barely earn a purposeful person a decent living. It's a moment of truth so let’s be honest, how many college graduates have pay grades matching their qualifications, and how many of them are making ends meet without overdraft facilities and 1x6 salary advances? But they’ve coined another cute excuse for that misery, and they call it "academic or education inflation," that we need more papers, because job requirements are now elevated due to the growing number of highly educated people. But whose fault is that; because some time ago, our people never went beyond “Standard Four”, but they created impressive legacies?

So now they want you to go back to their “Degree mills”, add an MS (More Shit), or double Masters to that BS (Bullshit) that you already have. I’m not trying to be rude; that’s what these qualifications mean to them. So think my friend! If not for half truths, why is it that even after getting all these titles from their institutions of higher learning, they employ us to do works that do not make full use of our skills and abilities? Why do you think some college graduates end up working for people who hold nothing more than a third-class high school diploma? I know someone who after studying in the UK, got hired as security guard for a UK corporation whose most qualified executive holds no more qualifications than him, why is that? What’s the use of a degree if you’re forever going to depend on some foreign ‘con-sultant’ to tell you what to do?

The other day I went to see my boys doing their thing at the Serrekunda “Black Market”, and to have my phone fixed. To be honest I was so pleased with what I saw. These boy, against all odds, are today able to break out of that “failure” that society thought they were. They’ve today created new identities for themselves, they own cars, wear designer colognes, and they dine at the finest eateries on Kairaba Avenue and the Senegambia area. They own huge savings, but they spend like they’re not saving; something that an average guy with a regular job wouldn’t dream of doing lest he be arraigned for some economic crime.

It is not like these boys inherited some comfort or won some jackpot to be what they’ve become. In fact most of them came from poor origins. Theirs was just that while some of us were being caused to spend at least 18 years of our lives “planning our future” in classrooms, and based on someone else’s thoughts of what should be taught and learned, these boys were busy getting educated in the art of money making, fixing things and selling phones. They were determined from the start that thought-controlling assignments and school grades won’t get in the way of what they wanted to be.

This is perhaps the longest piece I have ever written on here, but that’s because ‘adiiyaata nteleyeh’. I have nothing against schooled people, and I am not trying to justify my ‘paperlessness,’ but my respect is limited to educated people who do not take pleasure in belittling those who prefer to learn what interests them. I appreciate educated people who allow others to do because they want to, rather than just reading because they have to. I respect learned people who encourage unfettered thinking, creativity and independence, and I think that’s what’s up; people should allow options in education.