Philemon Mutema Matabila III writes:
IGNORANCE AND OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.
I have been watching Zambian comedians on Facebook make fun of our Zambian education system and curriculum. I couldn’t hide my sadness to how Ignorant they are with how knowledge and learning works. They keep on making fun of the fact that we learn parts or the anatomy of the grasshopper and term it to be useless.
They say learning history is useless, Shaka and European history is a sheer waste of time. They say the Quadratic Equation in Mathematics never helped them in any way of life. But i say, no wonder we are in this mess as Africans and Zambians. You see, studying Parts of a grasshopper may seem basic but Osteologists at UTH use that knowledge to make Prosthetic legs and arms for people who had been in accidents and decapitations. This is because the Legs and hands of a grasshopper are Prosthetic in nature, studying them has helped many doctors get patients on their feet.
The Quadratic equation was perfected by a Mathematician named Peter Shor whose algorithm is used in computers and phones that those same Facebook comedians are using to make videos. Any button you press on a phone or laptop solves the Shors algorithm in 0.001 seconds making you be able to see letters and words on your computer screen or phone.
And about history, there cannot be the future without History. We learn about Hitler so that when we see signs of another Hitler in 2020,we will know how to contain him before he kills another set of 6 million Jews again. No knowledge is useless, if you failed Grade 12 and cannot use any of the knowledge you were taught in school, its not everyone, some of us use Mathematics, History, Science and Geography in any area of out life and its working and making money out of that.
English is not useless, in America and other technologically advanced countries, they use Forensic Linguistics to catch criminals, remember how the “Unabomber” was caught using how he spoke and wrote? Changing and Implementing a curriculum is not easy, it takes years. Zambia is slowly bending towards changing Obsolete topics from the curriculum and moving onto a Vocational and Skills route. With time, it will change. So before you expose your Ignorance in front of thousands of people, ask us, we will tell you.
Even Trevor Noah, as a comedian is well read in History and he uses it to make us laugh. That’s why he managed to get that Job with Comedy central in USA. Ati am Bill gates didn’t go to University but he’s rich, Lol, he was accepted at an Ivy League university mwana, one of the best in the world, and he dropped out to concentrate on business. So tell those Facebook Comedians to Keep Mimicking voices with their dry Jokes… 🙄🙄