Nigerian Education vs. Foreign Education

  

My Younger brother who just finished writing jamb examinations, and seeking for admission into the higher institution was surfing the internet on my dad’s laptop yesterday, when he suddenly looked up from the screen. “I want to go and study at Cambridge University”. I heard him say to my mom, who was sitting on a stool and peeling an orange. She abruptly stopped what she was doing and shot him a surprising glance. Then her face broke into a mirthless grin and replied him “Yeah. And while we are at it, why don’t we also hire Isaac Newton as your home tutor so that by the end of the day, we’ll be so broke to the extent of selling the house and living in refrigerator boxes for the rest of our lives! Not too nice a reply, you would say, but all the same it’s necessary.

Studying abroad is desired by almost all prospective students, if not all. But since many of them don’t have credit cards/Bank accounts or some do, but it’s contents do not go into expenses such as; School fees, electricity bills, taxes, car refueling and the likes. They think studying abroad is a walk in the park. *Smh*

Although International schools are a sharp contrast to Nigerian schools as they are bereft of; staff shortages, lack of books and materials, and a deficiency in learning tools and even facilities. It is pertinent to note that attending a local school is it’s own advantages at the end of the day. The short story that I told y’all at the first paragraph will lead me to the first merit…FINANCE!

It’s obvious that such a “posh” education certainly comes with a price. Especially with the current state of Nigeria’s economy (Nigeria’s currency depreciating in value against foreign currencies, especially the U.S dollar), studying at a university abroad is a hell of a deal!. Come to think of it, even if that person succeeds in gaining admission into that University, what about his upkeep? That person would need to buy some things like warm clothes, an apartment, and the most important of all, FEEDING because as we know, SNOW FLAKES isn’t the same as CORN FLAKES and SNOW should not be mistaken for COTTON CANDY.

Although, it is possible for students to get part-time jobs while studying but is see it as “too much work”. Most of them end up being “Man Fridays” and this may have an adverse effect on that person’s well being yo’!

It is a common fact in Nigeria that most of it’s schools have various shortcomings in one form or the other. But do you know that these shortcomings all contribute to the emergence of students as “self-made geniuses” at the end of the day?

 Okay. Lemme ‘xplain some’ to ya. Picture a school with say, lack of a library and also lecturers who are outright lazy! The students in those schools will appear to be at a great disadvantage but do you know that there is something with Nigerians generally. We are like cockroaches.  We can survive in any given situation!. How do you think with all the bad governance, fuel scarcity, price hikes and so on, we still go about with a smile on our face and try our best to skirt these problems.

Likewise, students of these Universities would always find a way to overcome these challenges as they would be forced to buckle down and go the extra mile and engage in something I call “self-education”. This is so because those students will have it at the back of their minds that all the shortcomings of the school won’t stop the authorities from setting examinations. And it is a common expression among Nigerian students that “the fear of examinations in the beginning of wisdom”.

Where books and hardworking lecturers are not available, these students can go to public libraries to get these books to read, be members of study groups, go to night classes, and also search for learning materials on the net, ( I see this last option as very productive because while books are limited in knowledge, the internet Is vast in it’s reservoir of knowledge) because as one of my friends would say, “why Pick up an encyclopedia when you’ve got Wikipedia?” Besides, I find sitting through long hours of lectures a monotonous and energy sapping endeavor.

No wonder  when students from these part of the world go out there, they tend to stand out among the crowd as they would have been toughened mentally, by those erstwhile hurdles that they had to overcome while studying back home so imagine what that kind of student could do with access to books, hardworking lecturers, and free internet. Wow! Only the good lord knows yo’!

In conclusion, it is somewhat amusing to see that people are often wrapped up in the mirage that studying abroad is a sure ticket to luxury vacations in Dubai, expensive designer outfits, and bad a$$ whips like Ferrari, Aston martin, Bugatti, and so on. Don’t get me wrong. These things would have been possible with a foreign certificate way back in the 60’s, when things were a little bearable and (what’s the opposite of complex?)…NOT COMPLEX. In Nigeria of today, people just are not interested in where you schooled anymore but if you can do the job or not.

Enrolling a student in Harvard University doesn’t mean there would be sporadic changes in his  level of brilliance. Rather,  a person’s inner drive and resolve, is key to academic excellence. feel me?

If you liked this article, please share or comment.