Opinion
What Makes School a Scam, Money or Education?
By Olorunfunmi Adeniyi
Money adds a meaningful value to an individual’s life. It is a medium of exchange that is centralized, generally accepted, recognized, and facilitates transactions of goods and services.
It is often defined in three terms: It serves as a medium of exchange, as a store of value, and as a unit of account.
For this reason, money has become a great asset to human endeavours.
It is something human beings can not live without in this current century. Money!… Popularly known as “OWÓ” in the Yoruba language, and also used as a proverb that “OWÓ ÀPÈKÁNUKÒ”, which loosely translates it is “impossible to pronounce money [“OWÓ”] without pouting the lips”.
Literally, money is involved in almost every needs, wants, and activities that humans need to survive in life.
“Education” on the other hand, is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally preparing oneself or others intellectually for a mature life.
According to Aristotle, “Education” is the creation of a sound mind in a sound body. He further stated that It develops man’s faculty, especially his mind so that he may be able to enjoy the contemplation of supreme truth, goodness and beauty of which perfect happiness essentially consists.
Also, according to Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose “Dr GAB”, “Education” is anything that makes you a useful human being.
He noted that many “educated” people who claim to be a graduate are only walking around with just a receipt without a product. This means that education makes you a productive human being, and by being a productive human being, you are said to be a useful human being.
Truly, not everyone wants to be a lecturer or school staff or working around the school premises but then you can be anything you want if you are determined and consistent about it.
Although, in the opinion of many in a public context, if this question is asked, I can vouch that sixty to seventy per cent will go for money or pick money over education.
The saying that “education is the best legacy” has changed in this current generation, “making money is the best legacy”.
In this piece, I will be discussing the benefits of education and how to make money with it.
Back to the question of what makes school a scam? In contrary to this question, “school is not a scam, na you no just sabi book”.
However, you can make money with education if you’re truly educated, and to be educated, you must have achieved three things.
According to Dr Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose, education must help you achieve three effective things: Think logically, act creatively, and survive in a rapidly changing world. This insinuates that education will help you to think logically, which money can not.
Even if you have billions of naira, if you’re not educated enough to know how to spend it, the money won’t be valuable.
Education will help you act creatively, i.e education will help you act differently from an illiterate in any organization. Education will help you survive in a rapidly changing world, i.e. the world changes over time and for you to be an educated being, you should be able to survive in it. All these are things education will help you achieve which money can not.
Moving on, while everyone might have a different definition of education, its importance remains undisputed. By receiving a systematic education, people gain knowledge and develop skills and character traits crucial for a certain standard of life.
Benefits of education:
Career Advancement
If you have already joined the workforce and love your job, you might think you don’t need to pursue a college or university education.
I am here to tell you that a college degree can have other benefits than just landing you a job. By receiving higher education, you gain the knowledge and skills that will give you a competitive edge and allow you to advance your career in a chosen field.
Critical-Thinking Skills
Higher education equips you with the knowledge and skills necessary to join the workforce.
One of the most vital skills you will develop when pursuing a college degree is the ability to think critically.
Critical thinking skills are an advantage and sometimes even a requirement to succeed in your career. By developing critical-thinking skills, you can improve your work’s quality, solve problems, and prevent possible issues that might arise.
Self-Discipline
The amount of work that one has to put in to get a college degree is sometimes precisely what improves one’s self-discipline.
When pursuing higher education, you have assignments that you must deliver on time and tests you must study for, all of which require self-discipline. Improved self-discipline will, in turn, help you in your future career by making you a reliable and hardworking team member.
Cognitive And Communication Skills
Learning how to communicate with others is a highly valuable skill in the job market and one that will significantly contribute to your career success.
Pursuing a university or college degree is a great way to develop your cognitive and communication skills further.
During your studies, you will constantly be in contact and collaborate with colleagues and professors, giving you insight into a typical work environment.
Equality and Empowerment
One of the most important benefits of education is probably the promotion of equality and empowerment within society.
Higher education can make people more open-minded in accepting others’ ideas and opinions regardless of race, gender, age, etc.
In addition, education empowers people through expert knowledge and valuable skills and gives them the mental capacity to make decisions and create a life of their own independently.
Education Content Writing Skill
As an educator, you’re an expert. As such, you can use your expertise to gain freelance writing and/or editing work.
Everything from education journals to test-prep centres to educational institutions to educator-focused websites needs qualified educators to write and edit content.
Typically, you can charge by the hour or by the project. You can also;
- Work as a Tutor
- Teach Online
- Sell Teaching Materials and Courses
- Work as a Public Speaker
- Create Educational Technology
In conclusion, don’t just use money to buy education, but make money with education. Education is the best legacy, but money is what adds value to education.
Olorunfunmi Quadri Adeniyi writes from the Lagos State University (LASU).
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