DEGREE FOR FANCY

One of our least discussed tragedies aside from the notorious decades of military misadventures and the ostensible degradation of our democracy is the ‘miseducation’ of our population by the educational system.

Universally, for a person to reach their full potential in a chosen field of study, they need more than just the acquisition of ‘a degree’. They need to have studied in a field of interest. They need passion, passion that is born out of an inherent desire to aspire and achieve in that place of interest, and then, of course, thoroughly prepared teachings, because when the education is wrong, all else follow.

All our system seems to offer, in most cases, are mere certification with minimal or no impact; certifications that sometimes translate into nothing beyond the paper they are printed upon. There are engineers who will never invent or simply lack the capacity to understand the rudiments of their profession. There are lawyers who will never be called to bar, and if they are, would never appear in a court after the usual ceremony. There are doctors who have become certified murderers, whose mistakes are concealed by the system. There are computer scientists that only got to start working on computer systems after they’ve long left their institution of study, not as professionals, but as dummies. There are degree holders who will avoid every possible encounter with anything related to their discipline due to deep-seated resentment. They only retain the bragging right as ‘graduates.’

The simply reason is that they were never cut out for such discipline in the first instance. For someone who applied to study Medicine but is forced to study Food and Nutrition, life can be less than meaningful.

There are thousands, if not millions, of such unfulfilled persons crawling all over the place, in every sector of the economy; people who, in the depth of their souls, are ashamed of what they studied at the university. Some, by some stroke of luck have been able to navigate out of their hoisted misery by returning for another extended course or program. Many are still at it twenty years on. Many more will die never achieving their truest dreams. It’s such a labyrinth.

It is understandable that some people may key into the wrong passion from the unset of their lives due to inexperience and youthful exuberance, but when you have a system that does not even undertake counseling but arbitrarily dish out courses to young people, you will have the quality of graduates we have today.

However, a lot of parents are blameworthy too. This is a common and recognizable line: ‘just accept it, dear. There is no difference between a Geologist and an Economist, are they not all graduates? Just go and get the degree and start working instead of sitting at home.’

In this world we exist, that is logical.