Introduction
“To many, formal education is no more preparation for service but an avenue for self-aggrandizement.”~ These were the words of Dr K.B. Asante, Ghanaian Diplomat and writer in his article “What Do We Want Education to achieve?”
In this part of the world, people revere those privileged to receive formal education, regardless of their performance during or after school and parents make a lot of sacrifices to see their wards through school. While it is true that schooling enhances change in attitude and values, not everyone who goes to school these days ends up transformed as some have proven that they only visited classrooms to tickle their egos. Schooling has become an attractive venture, with questionable educational institutions springing up daily and people going to great lengths to secure admission into various educational institutions in order to acquire certificates.
The trend is more curious particularly at the tertiary level where getting degrees has become a matter of self-aggrandizement with people becoming more pre-occupied with the certificates they are awarded on graduation than with knowledge they would acquire. Some expect everyone to give them attention simply because they hold or are pursuing a degree. They can’t make an argument without either referring to courses they are taking or their qualifications.
Purpose of Education
“The purpose of education, according to Malcolm Forbes, “is to replace an empty mind with an open one”. Dr Martin Luther King Jnr once observed that “most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education [they] think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. True education, he maintained, should enable individuals to think critically and discern truth from falsehood, and be more useful to themselves and society.
Traps in The System
However, some individuals today have become trapped in the educational system. Stephen Covey calls this Eternal Student Syndrome and defines it as: “endlessly going to school, never producing, living on other people’s golden eggs.”
I once encountered a young man at an ATM. I was among a group of people waiting in a queue to use the machine when this young man arrived. Just a few minutes later, everyone around knew his academic credentials: he was a graduate teacher who had just returned from pursuing his Masters degree. It was a difficult and excruciating academic journey but rewarding. The date for graduation was yet to be announced but the next thing on his mind immediately was PhD.
Reveling in the prestige of tertiary education without demonstrating intellectual growth or service is deeply problematic.
Academic Dishonesty
The world has advanced, creating space for everybody—almost everybody. Doors once shut are now wide open, and those previously excluded are now actively competing. Education is no longer the preserve of the intellectually gifted. The ability to pay high tuition fees now determines access, leading to a system where financial capacity often outweighs academic merit.
The quest for academic qualifications gives rise to high levels of corruption and public deception. Examination leakage has become so pronounced at almost all levels of education in such a way that people engage in it with impunity.
When in 2015 questions from the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) leaked massively and some of the papers had to be cancelled and re-written, few would have expected that barely a year later, in 2016 there would be another examination leakage. From the foregoing, it is quite unfortunate for anyone to suggest that merely being in the possession of an academic certificate is proof of competence. But that argument is pushed by the conceited to mislead the uninformed.
Hope
Academic dishonesty undermines the credibility of qualifications, making character development equally essential. Whereas students in most institutions would be happy during examinations to have an invigilator step out for a minute or two so they can cheat, Ashesi University is reported to adopt an academic model that emphasizes personal integrity where its students take examinations without an invigilator. This intrinsic motivation to do right without external enforcement should become the norm in society.
Youth and Power
Kofi Annan argued that: “Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace. If, however, they are left on society’s margins, all of us will be impoverished. Let us ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies.”
There is a growing youth appetite for position and power with many young people contesting various elections. From district-level elections to national elections, young people have made their voices loud enough that they are no longer satisfied with working in the background for their aged masters; that they are equally capable of occupying the very positions their masters occupy.
In November 2015, youthful Sam George defeated Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah, then Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram in the NDC constituency primaries. He went on to win the general elections in 2016 to become the Member of Parliament for that constituency. Not long before that, Miss Francisca Oteng-Mensah, a 22-year old second year Law student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology shrugged off competition from incumbent MP, Hon Kofi Frimpong (who has been in Parliament since 2004) to become the NPP Kwabre-East Parliamentary Candidate in the 2016 General Elections. She is currently serving her third term as MP.
Sam George and Francisca Oteng-Mensah are only two examples of youth who have built themselves to take up leadership. They represent what Kofi Annan had hoped the youth would become.
Social Development
While many graduates secure employment in reputable institutions, concerns persist about the disconnect between academic training and industry expectations. Employers often report that new hires lack practical experience, critical thinking skills, and the ability to adapt to workplace demands.
Some graduates, ironically, spend their time in bars, restaurants and public spaces ridiculing those without tertiary education–while simultaneously lamenting the scarcity of jobs opportunities.
Schooling should be the most effective means of acquiring education, fostering critical thinking, and preparing individuals for meaningful contributions to society. However, when it becomes merely a credentialing process rather than a transformative experience, it loses its essence. A society that prioritises certificates over competence and character risks stagnation, as development depends not just on degrees but on innovation, integrity, and the ability to address real-world challenges. If opportunities are granted solely based on academic qualifications rather than practical skills and ethical values, then schooling becomes nothing more than the ill-advised conceit of the scoundrel—detached from the very progress it ought to drive.
Photo Credit: Online source
PS: Written in 2016, revised in 2025
interesting write up