I have heard people say it over and over again that education is
still of primary value. And ignorance has been and is still a great
disease. This is because; it is only education that can contribute to
the freedom of the intellect and the possibility of realizing our
socio-cultural and spiritual aspirations. I have practically seen the
good side of education, such that I have come up with an advocacy group
on education. Building good educational backgrounds is good for the
society. I was a beneficiary of the schools built by one of the
missionary heroes of our time, if not the greatest of them, Bishop
Joseph Shanahan. He came to Africa with a missionary strategy popularly
known as "the school method". Bishop Shanahan came, saw and conquered.
He noticed how powerful and influential education can be. He was a man
that saw tomorrow. He knew that education would be the key to the
opening of many other missionary avenues, and so decided to build his
ministry upon it.
In the areas he opened schools; he warded off local slave dealers and thus guaranteed the safety and liberty of the school children. Again from the knowledge acquired in the school, slavery as an institution stood on a dangerous periphery, so with other obnoxious evils like human sacrifice, killing of twins and women segregation, etc. Not only these, he believed so much that, with children in school, well Christianized, paganism will receive a deadly blow. The schools he established were for children mainly but the principle was: "Get the children and through them get their parents". The importance of schools can never be over emphasized. The saying has been popularized: "If education is costly, try ignorance".
However, it has long been established that not all that goes for education is really education. Not everything that goes by the name 'school' is really school. In the society today, every uncompleted building is a school. Every hamlet has a school - secondary/commercial or nursery. The question then is: Is the presence of these many schools a positive sign of future literary culture and future civilized society? What do all these 'schools' contribute? Are some of these so called schools not part of the many emerging small scale industries set up by some clever ones simply to put body and soul together?
Most of these proliferating schools founded today are the so-called vocational schools where the students and all of us too are made to believe in the philosophy (if not theology) of self-reliance and self-sustenance. Self-employment if you like. This is perfectly true when a vocational school is true to its name.
But we have for long become used to these gimmicks and jargons like we were told before the introduction of the 6-3-3-4 in Nigeria education system. But what happens when a school lacks all the materials needed to help the students acquire a skill. It is unfortunate that in some places, people without even an O' Level Certificate set up and run these vocational schools for themselves. To tag a school "Government Approved" boldly on the signboard does not make it worthwhile. Our government can approve any thrash no thanks to the power of money. In many of these 'business centres' parading themselves as 'schools' there are no teachers, what more qualified teachers. What is the fate of a vocational school student who has no idea of the common manual typewriter, talk less of the computer in this computer age, Accounts and Bookkeeping, Shorthand, Technical Drawing, Wood Work or other vocational courses that will help one to be self-employed as we are meant to believe?
People are not yet ready to sift the wheat from the chaff. Shanahan used the establishment of schools as a missionary and evangelization strategy. The government sets up schools for education (literary) purposes. The Church understanding fully her missionary mandate from her Lord sets up schools as part of her mission and obligation to the people of God to impart literacy, genuine civilization and morality. But today, the interest behind the establishment of these many schools, that we see here and there, is purely economic! The overall interest is nothing but money, because with the proliferation of these schools, the society has not been bettered. This is disheartening because the future of is at stake. One can only describe this as academic genocide. People with negative interest pursue their target with more forcefulness (Luke 16:8).
You notice that some of these pseudo-schools thrive to the detriment of others, because at times they claim to be cheaper and better than the government-owned schools, which are now in shambles, with part of the problem being the non-payment of teachers' salaries and allowances. With the fall of the government-owned-schools, this should have been the opportunity for the private schools to bloom for the betterment of the society, but the same Judas' financial lens with which things are seen through, the same greed which caused the collapse of the government-owned-schools, has a firmer grip on their management and proprietors. Some have no classrooms, no curriculum, no teachers, while some who have 'teachers' have drop-outs as teachers on their pay-roll. This is also exploitation - a Small Scale Industry!!!
In the areas he opened schools; he warded off local slave dealers and thus guaranteed the safety and liberty of the school children. Again from the knowledge acquired in the school, slavery as an institution stood on a dangerous periphery, so with other obnoxious evils like human sacrifice, killing of twins and women segregation, etc. Not only these, he believed so much that, with children in school, well Christianized, paganism will receive a deadly blow. The schools he established were for children mainly but the principle was: "Get the children and through them get their parents". The importance of schools can never be over emphasized. The saying has been popularized: "If education is costly, try ignorance".
However, it has long been established that not all that goes for education is really education. Not everything that goes by the name 'school' is really school. In the society today, every uncompleted building is a school. Every hamlet has a school - secondary/commercial or nursery. The question then is: Is the presence of these many schools a positive sign of future literary culture and future civilized society? What do all these 'schools' contribute? Are some of these so called schools not part of the many emerging small scale industries set up by some clever ones simply to put body and soul together?
Most of these proliferating schools founded today are the so-called vocational schools where the students and all of us too are made to believe in the philosophy (if not theology) of self-reliance and self-sustenance. Self-employment if you like. This is perfectly true when a vocational school is true to its name.
But we have for long become used to these gimmicks and jargons like we were told before the introduction of the 6-3-3-4 in Nigeria education system. But what happens when a school lacks all the materials needed to help the students acquire a skill. It is unfortunate that in some places, people without even an O' Level Certificate set up and run these vocational schools for themselves. To tag a school "Government Approved" boldly on the signboard does not make it worthwhile. Our government can approve any thrash no thanks to the power of money. In many of these 'business centres' parading themselves as 'schools' there are no teachers, what more qualified teachers. What is the fate of a vocational school student who has no idea of the common manual typewriter, talk less of the computer in this computer age, Accounts and Bookkeeping, Shorthand, Technical Drawing, Wood Work or other vocational courses that will help one to be self-employed as we are meant to believe?
People are not yet ready to sift the wheat from the chaff. Shanahan used the establishment of schools as a missionary and evangelization strategy. The government sets up schools for education (literary) purposes. The Church understanding fully her missionary mandate from her Lord sets up schools as part of her mission and obligation to the people of God to impart literacy, genuine civilization and morality. But today, the interest behind the establishment of these many schools, that we see here and there, is purely economic! The overall interest is nothing but money, because with the proliferation of these schools, the society has not been bettered. This is disheartening because the future of is at stake. One can only describe this as academic genocide. People with negative interest pursue their target with more forcefulness (Luke 16:8).
You notice that some of these pseudo-schools thrive to the detriment of others, because at times they claim to be cheaper and better than the government-owned schools, which are now in shambles, with part of the problem being the non-payment of teachers' salaries and allowances. With the fall of the government-owned-schools, this should have been the opportunity for the private schools to bloom for the betterment of the society, but the same Judas' financial lens with which things are seen through, the same greed which caused the collapse of the government-owned-schools, has a firmer grip on their management and proprietors. Some have no classrooms, no curriculum, no teachers, while some who have 'teachers' have drop-outs as teachers on their pay-roll. This is also exploitation - a Small Scale Industry!!!
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