Agreed! The Power to Read and Do What Appertains…Needs to be saved from further degradation
By Mwangi Wanjumbi – Newtimes B. S. CEO & Chief Consultant/Trainer
It is yet another great season of graduations for both public and private universities. Traditionally, I have not been short of a few tips in the last 3 years or so. But, as I express my views, I wish to say a big thank you to the president for recently refusing to assent to the bill, which advocated possession of university degrees for Kenyan Legislators. There is no doubt that this bill was misinformed. This is not so because it disadvantaged some ‘indispensable’ waheshimiwas, but rather on account of the likely repercussions.
Lessons in philosophy taught me many bold truths that I wouldn’t want to stress my readers with. Nevertheless, I must bring forth the fact that philosophy is about the search and dissemination of knowledge. However, it is not mentioned who qualifies to disseminate the knowledge and how it is supposed to be done. The same lessons go into great lengths of identifying a category of knowledge custodians known as sages. The African society was never short of these sages. These people never had any any formal education, let alone university degrees. They were nevertheless recognized for their vast knowledge and wisdom. Interestingly, it is them that the initial adherents of formal education interacted with when researching on matters African.
Actually, the society always looked up upon them for guidance and ideas on any societal challenges. I do not wish to praise or recognize any one of them for now, lest I open a can of worms, especially through eliciting different views from those who could be opposed to my choices. Nevertheless, it is doubtable whether our present crop of parliamentarians, some of whom happen to be non-degrees holders could feature anywhere near the sages of yester years. Not when our country continues to fair badly in corruption, development, leadership and so on as compared with its peers in the modern world.
On the other hand, the oxford English dictionary defines an educated person as one who has pursued education at least up to the first university degree. By implication, anybody who does not have a first degree should never boast of being educated. Ironically, not all university graduates (and these could be the majority) are educated. Why? Majority of those crisscrossing this great country may after all just be schooled, rather than educated.
Incidentally, I sometimes get worried when I recall an assertion by one of the greatest motivational speakers who lived between the 20th and 21st Century. Jim Rhon who passed on a few years ago, used to say that 90% of the members of the population anywhere and in whatever situation do what everybody else is doing. So, imagine 90% of our university graduates being uneducated. Indeed, that cannot be ruled out. Without doubts, most of the affected waheshimiwas could just have become part of the same crowd, had they been forced to comply with that degree requirement.
Interestingly, Napoleon Hill of the ‘think and get rich’ fame advocates that wealth is mainly acquired through application of knowledge. This means that people who have gone through the school system and acquired university education must certainly be very knowledgeable, particularly if the same is properly internalized. Ideally, such internalized knowledge ought to enable the custodians to make decisions from very informed positions. That is what application of knowledge is all about. And when that knowledge is applied in real life, the eventuality seems to be obvious – wealth creation and accumulation. But, does this always happen?
Obviously majority acquire university education so that they can manage to secure employment opportunities. The more lucrative the opportunities seem, the more popular the related degrees become. Largely, people do not even consider their own personal orientations. Rather, they are guided or better still misguided by external circumstances.
And when that happens, the motivation behind the degrees become the certificate themselves and nothing more. It is no wonder then that most people who acquire university education end up doing what everybody else is doing. In the workplace, they largely do not add any value. They do not create new ideas or innovate the existing ways of doing things. That probably explains why we continue lagging behind especially on development matters.
Meanwhile, the ongoing graduation season presents both good and bad for the society. Worryingly, more than 90% will commence the sometimes frustrating journey of making use of the freshly acquired certificates. Our cities, towns and urban centers will be heavily populated with holders of these degree certificates seeking to be helped one way or the other. That is instead of creatively applying the knowledge acquired; therefore helping through adding desired value to the improvement of the welfare of the society.
Under such circumstances, the celebrated power to read what appertains to the respective degrees ends up being no power after all. I fear that prospective parliamentarians would in the short term have increased the numbers of those holding certificates rather than adding the value intended of the power to read. That would in turn have increased the demand for university education that would not have been worth the eventual certificate.
Educated leaders are nevertheless a major asset to the society. Hopefully that situation will over time sort itself out as it has surely been doing. I am sure Hon Charity Ngilu of Kitui Central Constituency can now educate her peers (even if subconsciously) on the advantages of having a university degree, especially when in leadership. Notably, she has just completed a degree in leadership and management after independently making the choice to study. Meanwhile, my heart goes to those who are consistently applying the knowledge acquired, rather than just relying on the degree certificates to perpetuate them into much desired progress.
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