Education Is No Longer The Way!

By Ope Abdulsalam. Ope, 17, is a student at the Nobles International School, in Eke, Nigeria. Please read his article and leave your thoughts and comments below.

Right now, there is a child sitting somewhere with both hands on his chin, his elbows on a wooden table and his eyes affixed to a teacher who knows just as much as to make everyone else look dumb.

There is another child who finds it much of a problem to solve and find “x”; the same “x” that is written boldly, staring right back at him. He has no idea why he has to find a letter that he can already see. But, of course, he will fail the exams if he doesn’t find a way to start finding letters that are not lost. So he crams the solution.

Theories, laws, formulae, and methods among others, flood the subjects taught in school. Students now know the answers to most of the questions and cannot tell how the answers can solve real life problems. It was surely in the thought of this, that Roger Lewin made the famous quote: “Too often, we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.”

When a teacher tells a child that “A is for Apple”, the child takes it in after many rehearsals and can confidently say it anywhere that A is for apple.

But here’s a suggestion for teachers: Ask the whole class of students what they can use an apple for. Listen as most of them will talk. Now, take a limited number of apples, share them between a few of the children. Give two apples to some, one to others, and none to some others. Make sure to place side-by-side children with two apples and children with none. Then announce to the class that the apples in their hands are theirs. Watch. See if the children with two apples will give one to those with none. Or any with one will give just that one away. There you go: the problem of greed and selfishness has been placed before them to solve!

Children should be allowed to solve problems without being told the exact way to. Our educational system forces us to take everything the teacher says and give it back to him.

All the bright and smart students who make A’ grades in school are those who were cajoled to use their hippocampus more than any other part of their brain. Sometimes I wonder why this part of the brain that is involved in storing and processing memory is actually called the “hippocampus”. What is a hippo and what is a campus? Isn’t it funny that a hippo is a large animal with a very large head, and a campus is the area around a school? Whoever created the name knew what he was doing. I may not be right about the origin of the name, but at least my prefrontal cortex (responsible for cognition and problem solving) is still working.

We, students, are tired. We need a new process of learning where we get to think more, more than we are asked to remember; where we get to be told not only how to do certain things, but also why we are doing them. We need to know why we keep finding “x” when it’s right there before us.

We need one more thing – to find a new name for their process of teaching. Probably a name like “Cram-booktion” or “Must-pass-examtion” or maybe “dont-thinktion”; not Education, because if their Education is a simple give-me-what-I-taught-you process, then we are sorry, Education is no longer the way!

17 comments on “Education Is No Longer The Way!

  1. Johnson Olaiwola on

    Your title drew me here. And really, I do not regret reading this. You’re such a smart young man.
    “Cram-booktion” cracked me up real good. 😂
    Great work!

    Reply
  2. Rick Fred on

    I know how hard it is for the children in schools to cope. I know. This work has brought to public attention the thoughts of millions of children in the world. The title is a cause for a read.

    Frankly, as a teacher, I would try to apply your suggestions. I know it would work.

    All the children of the world deserve a better standard of education “where they get to think more”. I totally agree. I’m sharing this with my school and my teacher friends.

    God bless you, and this wonderful foundation.

    Reply
  3. Sunny Jacobson on

    Your description of the origin of hippocampus is not true 😂, though very creative.
    I love the whole work. Very much.
    Well-done.

    Reply
  4. Ohmidiabhor Dinkan on

    If this article with this same title appears in a magazine and the title is used as the featured title for an edition of the magazine, it will become a bestseller in few days.

    I mean, it’s a very creative work.

    The title says one thing, the article says the same thing in a different way, and practically taught me. Best article I’ve read in weeks.

    Reply
  5. Rolex Godwin on

    I will call you a brainbox. You captured my attention and held it right unto to the end of this article. I love it, I love it, I love it.

    Reply
  6. Afolami Solomon on

    Wowww, you’re an epitome of knowledge. I like the descriptive manner in which you wrote. I can’t wait for you to win this competition. Thanks for writing.

    Reply
  7. Rayfield samson on

    Soothes the mind, heals the soul. The world would be a wonderful place if we have writers of your kind. Thank you for sharing this. I really enjoyed reading every bit of it

    Reply
  8. Spartacus Ukeme on

    Mere words cannot explain how much I appreciate this work. You’re indeed a blessed child. Keep inking, keep soaring high. More grease to your elbows.

    Reply
  9. Clinton on

    Wow, this was such a great read. Nice one. The last lines were really something else 😂.

    Keep up the creativity 👍

    Reply

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