What do you think about this statement?
I saw this screenshot tweet.
The tweet may have light tone,
but it captures a lot about what is wrong with Nigeria Educational System.
A mechanical engineering graduate
who studied for 5 years in the university
and did a research project in automobile
does not have work to do.
Here, the education focuses on “telling” students about the profession
and testing students’ ability to meet deadlines,
and being able to pass exams
instead of being able to “DO” the profession.
But someone without higher education
learns roadside mechanic for 6 months.
From day one, he learns how to “DO” the work
while his master /teacher “tells” him theories as backup while education here focuses of doing.
From the point of learning, he can earn.
You see graduates of mass communication
who cannot handle camera
or speak to microphone
or write properly for media
or understand how to use digital media.
So, to do any of that,
he or she needs to go learn somewhere else.
While self-learning is the key,
educational institutions, especially at tertiary level,
should be able to equip learners with usable skills,
skills they can convert into income immediately.
I believe education as we know it today in Africa,
needs to be dismantled
and reconstituted.
The reconstitution should pay more attention to students learning skills,
students being able to do than to memorize what the teacher says.
Teachers also should be practitioners in the field they teach.
Then teaching should become 80% showing, 20% telling.
At Hoha Television and Film Academy , we make efforts to close the gap.
We give students opportunity to learn by doing.
The result is awesome,
it gives learners confidence from day one,
and challenges their creativity and productivity.
– by Ndụka Odo