The document critiques the traditional education system, arguing that it perpetuates outdated assumptions and prepares students primarily for employment rather than fostering creativity and critical thinking. It highlights the need for an education that encourages lifelong learning, problem-solving, and integration within communities, while questioning the worth of current schooling that often favors rote learning. The author calls for a re-evaluation of educational values and encourages individuals to design their own educational paths that prioritize creativity and adaptability in a rapidly changing world.

2. ASSUMPTIONS HOLD
SYSTEMS IN PLACE
We dared to question age long assumptions in our quest to be voices to the
voices who feel there is not much that could be achieved if they speak up.
The fact that it has been done a certain way does not exempt it from being
questioned. We do understand the rough road on which we ply but we still
choose to get on it.
Once upon a time, parents were begged to release children to attend schools.
It was a tough decision for fathers to make in those days.
Children were seen as helpers on the farm, especially those who were
physically fit. Letting them go into a system with no ascertained future or
assurance of prosperity was difficult to accept.
The barrier was soon overhauled. The few parents who reluctantly released
their children for what was called Western Education were rewarded by
children who could read and write in the English Language and more so, a
secure job.
As time passed, this became a norm and the idea of keeping children out of
school was frowned at by the society.
But did the mentality of future prosperity change? Not much.
An entire village would not mind sending one of their own, with high academic
performance, to open the doors of opportunities to some others considered
worthy of the same pursuit.
They often return in pump and style with jobs secured. And that was taken for
a secured future.
Times have changed but have we adjusted to the new realities?
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3. Our school system is still entwining the idea of preparing students for secured
jobs.
Parents still regard some careers as hopeless based on the monetary returns.
Going to school has become more like living in a virtual world for an average of
two decades then jostling back to reality only to find that so much have been
traded for a certificate that doesn’t amount to much.
The innate creative genius would have been beaten down to the level that
would require only a miracle to get back up.
So many other options would have been stifled and many would be left with
the single hope of finding a job because that was exactly what they have been
prepared for.
Education is the liberation of the soul to weigh options
and make wise decisions.
Schooling is the preparation of the mind to be at the mercy of the government
and employers of labour.
Countries with thriving educational system have their students spend less time
behind the bars (in a classroom) and more time on the playground for that is
where the true experience dwells. They are never separated from the affairs of
the communities. They function in community development and social affairs.
Volunteering is not a mere extracurricular
activity.

4. A CHALLENGE!
We dare to challenge you to critically consider the aim and objectives behind
the foundation of the school system in its pure and polluted forms.
The purity of the system was in bridging of gaps caused by diverse cultures,
hence, the necessity of grammar schools.
It would have been fine if it remained as that. Schooling is complete when the
ability to read and write in the language of a majority is gained.
What is left to be done afterwards is education. Education is a life-long
experience. It begins at cradle and continues to the grave and beyond.
The pollution of a system lies in its hijack by a few who sought to control the
minds of the majority by subjecting them to a curriculum that prepares them
for a lifetime in the labour market.
If you can read these words then school’s
day is out and over.
Now go ahead and design your own education.
Build the university you long to attend.
We would gladly oblige your invitation to inspect your facilities and resources.
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5. Get your thinking cap on and enjoy
the FLIGHT with us.
Feel free to be angry in the course of the journey. It is only an indication that
you love education so much that you hate its abuse.

6. PART ONE: STARTING OUT
Go to school!
Get good grades!
Get a job!
Live happily ever after!
I wished it still worked in that order.
But that notwithstanding, it is still the widely accepted framework upon which
we are taught to order our lives.
The search began as the session winds down for most high school students.
Prior to this time, I would say, so many have drawn out plans and their choices
of career. While to others, it’s still a mirage - all they want to focus on at the
time is making themselves eligible for tertiary institutions.
The education system is structured in such a way that even at this stage, your
choices are streamlined (this is a recent occurrence).
Upon graduation, the following factors set in.
Good grades. To be admitted for any course of study in the tertiary institution,
the first focus should be on obtaining the required grade points for admission.
For many, this is a great juncture indeed. This is a critical point where pressure
sets in for some people and pleasure for others. I have heard stories about
high school leavers having to stay back home for few years basically to acquire
a grade level at a subject or more.
Parental income level…
Societal preferences…
Course of study…
Home proximity…

7. Choosing a career
Times have changed. The world is a global village and the internet is the new
market place. The age we are in is called the information age. There are no
longer irrelevant careers, all services are equally needed and highly demanded.
Here are few tips/steps from me to choosing a course of study.
Choose in line with what you naturally enjoy doing. One of the major reasons
why parents push their children for some courses is because they believe the
courses would provide them high paying jobs, but in recent times, events and
happenings have proved them wrong. It’s no longer about what you do but
how well you do it.
Focus on problem solving and not money.
Look within.
Be in charge…
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8. PART TWO: CREATIVITY
Israel’s success is not just of talent but of tenacity, insatiable questioning of
authority, of determined informality combined with a unique attitude towards
failure, teamwork mission, risk and cross-disciplinary creativity.
Creativity questions everything, literacy
accepts everything.
The most productive people on earth are both literate and creative. Creativity
propels a person to use their own words in explaining or translating. This
shows how much they understand what they are explaining or translating.
Literacy causes a person to use someone else's words and opinion about the
subject rather than their own.
Education, as interesting and thrilling as it ought to be, is sadly boring and
uninteresting. The system is filled with educators who do their best to impart
knowledge and students who are merely enduring the process.
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9. Creativity is just as important as
literacy.
As a matter of fact, I would submit that before literacy, there was creativity. It
was only in the passage of time, that we misplaced our priorities and mankind
has been dancing to the music ever since.
In the words of Sir Ken Robinson, “We most time bury the kid's talent
and ask him to go find it.”
Literacy they say is the ability to read and write. This is the term meant, and
submitted by English dictionaries, since it owns the word. It was not written as
the “ability to read and write in the English Language.”
I would always affirm that our fathers were not illiterate in the original
meaning of the word. They might not have been able to read and write in
English Language but communication had existed among them from time
immemorial.
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10. School going into extinction?
Worthy of reiterating is the assertion, “You are literate at that juncture in your
education process when you can read and write in any accepted language of a
people.”
In the light of this definition, a vast number of people who have agreed to be
referred to as illiterate by either a voice of authority or their seat of thoughts
would be operating out of ignorance.
Most parents of the 21st century are no longer illiterate in the very definition
of the word. They can read and write - in both local and foreign languages and
in the eye of the Western world, they are cultured - a special thanks to
Western Education but truth be told, they could now take away their feeders
as we are no longer babes who need a bottle to feed.
I see a generation of parents who take the education of their children seriously
and see themselves as the primary teachers of their kids. I see parents who
highly regard home training beyond organized schooling for their kids. For
homes devoid of training, training centres for them would be put in place -
many already existing.
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11. WHEN MISTAKES BECAME A
TABOO
Making mistakes is the oldest way of learning – Robert Kiyosaki
Just as we've said before, when a child starts to learn to walk, the child falls
down more times than humpty dumpty. The child isn’t criticized for falling or
failing to walk at the beginning of “Walking 101,” but she is encouraged to
keep trying not because she is a child but because we know learning something
new always comes with mistakes.
Funny is the fact that mistakes in the educational system are seen as the worst
crime a student could ever commit and such mistakes in our educational
system are usually met with severe hostility. So many inventions we enjoy
today were borne through series of mistakes.
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12. DECLINING RELEVANCE
On several occasions, conversations regarding the decline of our esteemed
academic certificates sprang up between my dad and me. He often states how
he started out with his secondary school certificate.
It was then a bus stop for many because with it, you could get an averagely
reasonable job. Yeah! The standards of education were still that high. All you
needed to do was complete your secondary education and a job was waiting
for you – although there was still room to ascend the ladder of academic
pursuit.
In recent times, the game has changed. A high school graduate is still more or
less seen as an illiterate. As a matter of fact, the individuals see themselves as
such. You would hear: “I didn’t go to school – some other would say, I didn’t
finish school.” To them, not completing tertiary education is more like being an
illiterate.
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13. MEET THE AUTHORS
Segun Alonge Jr is an incurable reader and a tireless educator of Nigerian
origin. He addresses critical issues affecting individual's social, mental and
spiritual development. He is an advocate of financial literacy and creativity.
He thrives well in tensed environments. He creates platforms to unite
mankind in collectively solving her numerous problems through innovation
and paradigm shifts. He travels as a conference speaker, workshop facilitator
and life coach. He is based in Abeokuta, Nigeria, West Africa.
thesegunalonge@outlook.com
(+234) 703 752 9130
www.linkedin.com/in/segunalongejr
Damilola Adeyinka is a Pan African, creative writer, and social
entrepreneur with a deft touch in the art of shifting erroneous paradigms.
He is the team lead of The Idealz Ng, a social initiative focused of educating
young individuals on leadership, development and entrepreneurship in
Africa, through several life transforming mediums. When he's not busy
creating solutions, he's spending time rearranging the universe in his mind.
damilolaadeyinkagab@gmail.com
(+234) 806 6456 346
www.linkedin.com/in/damilola-adeyinka