EXAMINATION SCORES ARE MERE NUMBERS!

EDITORIAL

EXAMINATION SCORES ARE MERE NUMBERS!

scale

People are appointed for what they know, but fired for not doing what they know!

He really knew what he was talking about! He spoke with such a great audacity on Hydroelectricity. He was familiar with the rudiments of it. He knew hydroelectricity relates to or denote the generation of electricity using flowing water to drive a turbine which powers a generator. He was a mobile library. He was heavy with knowledge, yet the University he attended lacked electricity supply despite having a dam! He did the talking and dodged the application. “Fake it till you make it” was the mantra. He damned the application; but picked up the large numbers in assessments and examinations. He was a frustrated man and to hide it, he complained of no capital to execute projects. It was the same with his fellow students in other areas of study.

Perhaps the writer of this piece is not conversant with the happenings around him. If he is, he wouldn’t render the above story in past tense. The story he just narrated is actually thriving at present. The student he was writing about is actually living and still does what was written about him.  His acquaintances in other areas of study are no exception. They are heavily yoked with knowledge, but free from applying what they have learnt. “Fake it till you make it” is the mantra.

Unfortunately, they are caught up in the nostalgic web of their tertiary studentship as they recall memories of old. They had being CONFORMISTS for years. They gaze at their examination scores with beaming smiles; however, they know they had been a conformist from the ancient times; conforming to the regulations of their lecturers. A ‘table’ is always a ‘table ‘and a ‘chair’ must remain a ‘chair’. Passionately they follow suit and it earned them their large numbers, but they feel empty within. They know the ideal, but wouldn’t live the ideal. Their smiles are wiped away by this reality and they remain frustrated. Getting a job is no big deal. Their certificate would do that; but the lack of necessary skills for the job would get them fired.

The end of having knowledge should be application. There is vexation in much knowledge – knowledge suffering from application. The League of European Research Universities has it right. The institution posits that “Universities serve to make students think: to resolve problems by arguments supported by evidences; not to be dismayed by complexity but bold in unravelling it”. Enough of knowledge without application! The cemetery is rich enough! Powerful inventions that never touched reality lie dormant beneath the soil. Books that were never written, speeches that were never delivered and many other assets that could make the world richer are shut down in an everlasting prison. Application cries for manifestation!

He that has knowledge and doesn’t apply it is no better than he who doesn’t have it at all. Street mechanics are great guys. They are the last resort when cars of Professors in Mechanical Engineering break down. What else is needed to proclaim an era of ineffectiveness wrapped in flimsy excuses?

“Man, know thyself” is the advice of Socrates. When you do the things you love, work naturally turns to fun. Acknowledgement is the greatest reward when you are not in your realm. When you stay in your realm, you not only gain acknowledgement, you have people’s attention. Tell not the world what you will do; show the world what you will do.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *