EDUCATED AWAY FROM CREATIVITY

So I finally found a picture that depicts a burden that has tarried long on my mind.

A teacher hands a Maths test to his ‘kid pupil’, asking what a man has after eating 29 out of 36 candy bars. ‘Diabetes’, the kid answers, ‘Bob has Diabetes.’

Back in our nursery and primary school days, we were sure that not only a well-designed ‘X’ sign to indicate a miss, but also a fierce spanking to express the teacher’s displeasure awaits that child.

But who is correct – the child or the teacher?

Well, it depends on what and how you want to teach the kid. The 'what' should even dictate the 'how'.

Apparently, we can judge the kid to be wrong and his teacher right. But looking deeply, we know better.

The number of candy bars consumed is not as important as the dangerous effect that might result, if it is true.

In fact, it is the kind of wrongly-crafted teaching technique described above that has constituted a major evil today in the education system in Nigeria and beyond.

Truth be told, we were ‘educated away from creativity’ with the rod, and now we are being accused for not being creative enough!

We used to think out of the box before we met those who caged us by force.

We were trained up in the way our teachers wanted us to go, and now we can hardly depart from their precepts. In fact, no matter how hard we try, they hardly depart from us.

Many people who roam the streets in search of a job and even the ones multiplying evil in the society are actually castrated intellectuals who should be solving problems rather than creating more.

A man is not educated until he can reason independently apart from his teacher and textbook methods. He should be able to perceive life for himself and make intelligent decisions that guarantee him a rewarding life.

Frankly speaking, our teaching tools need re-calibration and the education system is long due for an overhaul.

Education is meant to empower us, not to enslave us to thinking patterns that become unnecessary with time.

Education is not meant to freeze our minds, but to enkindle and enflame the spark of our creative potential until it burns brightly and sufficiently enough to produce light for the society.

Education is meant to build a sound mind in a sound body, hence, making a whole life.

Besides, the education is to a nation what the mind is to the body. It determines our level of development.

Another way to see it is that as the foundation of our nation’s development, our education determines the height, shape and strength of our advancement as a nation.

We need CHANGE. Not a mere political agenda. Not a mouthed slogan. Not even a superficial change.

We need change where it really matters. And we need it as it really matters!

I will never look to the government for this kind of change. That change begins with you and me.

Enough of blame-fixing! Not our teachers. Not our parents. Not the government. The onus is on us now. We have what it takes to shape our future.

Invest in your tomorrow; educate yourself today as much as you can. And do whatever you can to better the education of our young ones. Engage them whenever you can. Be there for them.

And don’t forget that our leaders will not live or lead forever no matter their pleasant wishes. Prepare to take the lead!


#ITakeResponsibility

Comments

  1. Unknown27 December 2016 at 12:34

    Spot on. We were created out of creativity but we should rise and take responsibility.

    ReplyDelete

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