Our education system has no idea of what to do with creativity – Anchor VC

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Vice Chancellor, Anchor University, Lagos, Prof. Joseph Afolayan, has lamented that the nation’s educational system has no idea about what to do with creativity in schools.

Afolayan, who spoke during the Valedictory Service and Prize-giving Day of Good Shepherd Schools, Meiran Campus, Lagos, also said another problem was that many graduates had no clue of what being creative meant after leaving school.

“The problem, however, is that our educational system, especially the public education has no idea about what to do with creativity in schools. Another major problem is, outside of the schools, many graduates today have no clue on how to get creative. There are more cases of joblessness today caused by lack of creativity than those caused by lack of jobs. And, more than 90% of poor people globally would have been able to better their lots if only they could think beyond the materials they studied in the classrooms,” he said.

Afolayan, who was the guest speaker at the event, said while conventional education was good, the best form of education was self-education, stressing that conventional education did not automatically confer on one the gown of success, noting that it should open one’s mind to the track and strategies for success.

“It is a great instrument that will, however, remain meaningless if not used. If you want to be celebrated in life; if you do not want to be missing in the crowd, here is my piece of advice: Get Creative. But the problem is, creativity, apart from Fine Arts, is not taught as a subject in the classroom, but it should. In any case, you need to get busy and learn to know far more than you were taught in the classroom. Indeed, this is the time to start thinking of what would give you the edge in the corporate world. The earlier you start, the better,” he advice the youths.

Also speaking, the Chairman of Good Shepherd School, Dr. Adebayo Oyeyemi said the school had equipped the graduating students with the skills needed to succeed in a changing world, adding that the education offered by the school was without corruption and examination malpractice.

Oyeyemi decried that the nation was facing several challenges in all front, which had lead to the threatening of peace and unity, political and economic landscape, among others, but noted that the graduating students had been taught creativity, self-worth, a value-driven lifestyle and other qualities to rescue Nigeria from collapse.

“The solutions to Nigeria’s problems lie in the hands of Nigerians. And you are the Nigerians to undertake that task. That is what you are called for. Godliness is the tool you require to rescue our dear nation from the brink of collapse,” he said.

The Director-General, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Prof. Gloria Elemo also charged the graduating students to brace up for the challenges ahead, as they had been well tutored to succeed in life.

However, Good Shepherd Schools graduated 109 pupils and students from its Meiran Campus. A breakdown shows that 56 students were graduated from Junior Secondary School 3; 44 students from Senior Secondary 3 and nine pupils from primary 6.