## Hello, everyone.
I welcome you to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learner's featured post. The recent happenings and how fast school standards and the respect people have for school keep declining have brought about the famous saying "school is a scam." People putting in so many resources to secure a degree for themselves and ending up not using the degree is a huge discouragement to those who actually have plans to do the same. If you allow recent happenings to get into your head, then you will not want to undergo the stress of getting a degree because of the fear of what if you end up like others that you have seen?
[Source](https://unsplash.com/photos/blue-and-white-academic-hat-iggWDxHTAUQ)
Gone are the days when a degree was respected and everyone's dream was to secure one someday. Back then a degree was your gateway to securing a job with decent pay. Back then a degree gave you an edge and put you ahead of others applying for a job or position, but it's funny how all that is now in the past. Today you can be a degree holder and still be at home with no job and no hope of securing any. Many degree holders are left without jobs, while there are many illiterates in a better position than them. These days it is not about the degree or the grade; it is all about who you know that can pull the strings for you, and that has contributed to the declining respect people have for education and for a degree certificate.
I just got myself a degree, but I keep asking myself questions like, have I in any way applied what I was taught in school? The answer is not an outright yes or an outright no, but I can boldly say that my time spent trying to secure this degree was not a complete waste of time. I gained life experiences, experiences that can help me in my life journey, and I doubt if I would have been able to get such experience outside the four walls of school. I have been applying the experience gained in school, and it has been seeing me through some situations.
Though getting a degree in a country like Nigeria has more downs than ups, getting a degree in a country like Nigeria feels more theoretical than actually practical, which makes it difficult to actually apply what you are taught in school. Imagine an engineering student who, throughout their 5 years in school, the only time they had a field experience or exposure to practical work was during their 6-month internship training. Six months out of 5 years is not enough to actually cover the practical aspect of what is taught in 5 years.
The lack of practical knowledge makes it impossible to apply what you were taught in school; all that you have is theoretical knowledge, and applying theoretical knowledge can be difficult, as not every student has the ability to convert theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge, so they need practical knowledge in order for them to apply what they were taught in school.
Do I feel there is more to be done by the school system to make things better?
[Source](https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-wearing-academic-cap-and-dress-selective-focus-photography-1VqHRwxcCCw)
Yes, both the government and the school authority need to invest in more schools, as one of the reasons why there is little or no practical exposure in schools is because of the lack of the materials and tools needed to make it happen. If both the government and school system can make provisions for practicals, students will find it easier to apply what they were taught in school.