School na scam is a phrase common to many Nigerians, especially the youth. I believe this phrase was coined after so many of them realized that it takes more than the knowledge gained from school to survive in this present world and time.
Education in those days was not adopted by many like the way it is today, so job opportunities were not saturated as there were not enough qualified graduates or personnel, so the ones that had the opportunity of going to school were seen to fare averagely well in life than the ones that didn't have the opportunity of going.
Today, times have changed. I believe that above 70% of today's youth are educated at least to the secondary level of education. Everyone now knows the benefits of being educated and strives to get the basic knowledge from school, especially since the introduction of government schools, which are most times free or affordable to low-income parents.
The mistake the youths of these days make is depending totally on the knowledge derived from school to survive in the outside world, it comes as a shocker to so many of us that school knowledge which cannot be totally ruled off, just gives us the basics and theory version of the outside world, the real world is all about being practical, gaining life lessons as ou experience them, and you either learn and become a better version of yourself or you fail multiple times and give up and start calling school a scam.
School is not a scam; you just need to do better and also get better at thinking outside the box. Outside knowledge taught in school, life has taught me that I don't need to work under someone or hold a white collar job to be successful. Look around you today, you would see that most richest men in the world are not employees, but rather are the employers of labour, the businessmen, the solution providers, is the right name I like to call them.
Most of us go to school with the aim of graduating one day and getting a good-paying job, which isn't bad as it is not everyone that ought to do business, but have you ever sat yourself down to think outside the box? this is what makes you different from those who didn't go to school and not your certificate or fluent english speaking.
For instance, there is the popular fashion designer Vicky James, who dropped out of school but went on to build a successful fashion business empire. She didn't have a degree, but she had a passion and a willingness to take risks and never gave up. She learned through trial and error, and today, she is staying ahead of the curve as one of the most respected celebrity fashion designers in the country and is also an employer of labor.
The point is that school is not a scam, but it's not the only path to success either. We need to learn to be practical and broaden our horizons, don't feel too comfortable in our zone as a graduate, explore different opportunities, and develop skills that go beyond the classroom; also, risk-taking is important as well.