Education system churning out zombies

By Bill Odunga

The 8-4-4 system is a prison really. It never quite develops or inspires anyone’s mind, but stuffs their heads with ideas.

Perhaps that is why we have university graduates who think Addis Ababa is a country, politicians who believe that rain comes from the clouds and lawyers who, despite the rigorous academic pressure, still think that it’s a taboo to be in political competition with their mothers.

In this regard, then, it is justified to say that if education is the key, then school must be the lock! After spending sixteen years in a classroom, what is left is a brain full of things that might never ever help you applying for a job, getting a wife and raising children.

Seriously, we spend hours on end reading volumes of books in the library at night, only to fall asleep in the lecture hall. We spend the last five minutes to an exam, trying to cram a 3-month worth of schooling, only to forget them in the exam room and remember them five minutes after the invigilator says stop. The system repeats itself for a whole sixteen years, that is, if you have no life left in you to pursue a Masters degree.

Malcolm x

But what is left after the years of mental slavery? A piece of paper that says you are qualified to argue in court, fix a bulb, handle (or treat) a patient. Well, tell that to Malcom X who’s celebrated for what he learnt in a prison.

Mole concept

Such are the arguments that the world-renowned poet Sulli Breaks brings across in his argument about hating school but loving education. And I couldn’t agree more. A good example is the recent graduates of the 8-4-4 system who are awaiting official recognition by their schools in December. They were so excited of being done with this system, only to go home and realize that in order to get a decent job, you have to come highly recommended or have close to two decades worth of experience. Otherwise, you are forced to work for some derisory pay for the timeworn honchos who are still clinging on to power, doing work that only requires a head on top of your shoulders.

All the Biology, Chemistry, History and Mathematics are really of no use then. And after all those grueling years, you still do not understand why you needed to know the mole concept or the value of the ever elusive useless ‘x’ when all you ever wanted to be was a singer or painter.

We are entombed in this mental institution christened 8-4-4, and hope in the words of Sulli Breaks and his ilk who still provide hope that exam results will not decide our fate. We will.