Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels
By Marire Adebanjo
“Not everyone with a degree uses that degree to get a job or earn a living. Some develop skills and make a living out of it or even create jobs for others by being entrepreneurs or small business owners. At times, what they do for work is entirely different from the course they studied during their tertiary education.” Mr. Makinde shared.
_______
Mr. Makinde is the class teacher for JSS 1B. Yesterday, he taught on ‘Self-reliance’. This was the first time the students were taught this topic. After he had explained the topic, he asked each student to tell him what their parents studied and what they currently do.
As expected, some students did not know what their parents studied. The few who knew mentioned them. Mabel, one of the students, noted, “My Dad studied Pharmacology and my Mum studied Chemistry, and they both work as a consultant and own a Pharmacy.” Another student, Chideberem, said, “My Daddy said he studied Mathematics and he is a Software Engineer. My Mummy said she studied medicine and she is a Doctor now.” This wowed the other students.
“How can your Daddy study mathematics and be a Software Engineer?”, Malvina, Chideberem’s seatmate, asked. Mr. Makinde responded, “Good question, Malvina! This is exactly what self-reliance pushes you to do. When you can not function with your knowledge, you upskill. That is, you learn more skills or one skill that will help you earn a living or become better in your qualification.”
“Sir, is he not supposed to become a teacher and teach mathematics?”, Enoch asked the teacher. To this, Mr. Makinde said, “Yes, he could have been a Mathematics teacher or lecturer but you need to know that he decided not to do that for reasons known to him. He could have not liked to teach or he was seeking to be financially buoyant or he developed an interest in Software Engineering. Of course, you have gone through secondary and tertiary education but that doesn’t mean you cannot upskill or do something entirely different or even venture into side hustles to remain financially and economically independent.”
Mr. Makinde liked that they asked questions. This made him feel like he was educating them beyond their scheme of work for the term. He could relate to this topic more than they knew. He studied political science but ever since he graduated four years ago, he hasn’t been able to utilize his degree. So, he chose to be a teacher. At the time of selecting his course of study for his tertiary, he had no idea or plan for his future yet. All he knew was that he was in ‘Art class’ in secondary school. Now, he knows. He wants to teach young people to find themselves while running his poultry farm in the hopes that it will grow into a larger business.
“What I want you to know is before you go for your tertiary education, make sure you have an idea of what you want to become and build your education in that line. This is especially true for those who do not have the desire to be a Doctor, Lawyer, or other conventional occupations. Some of you want to be animators or cartoonists, virtual reality game developers, etc. You need to know what skills to learn and what course to study. Do we all understand?” Mr. Makinde emphasized.
“Yes Sir!!”, the students all chorused.
***
At Shades of Us, we encourage everyone to learn a skill or enhance their skill sets. This ensures young people have more opportunities while being financially stable and economically independent. Shades of Us also trains young people to help them learn skills or become better with their skills.
