Mr. ‘Seun Adewunsi is a prolific writer, motivational speaker and CEO of Successarts Communication, an outfit that offers educational support services in the area of counselling, career guidance and publishing. As a career counsellor, who has developed strong and personal relationships with students, Mr. Seun in this interview with YouthForum talks about the BIG problem facing students and why it is important for them to take career test.
Based on your relationship with students, especially those dealing with various forms of academic pressures, what do you think is the cause of mass failure among secondary school students?
The major problem is lack of motivation. The morale of the average student is low because of what he sees around him. Basically, any student in secondary school wants to read and pass his exams so that he can go to a higher institution, like university or polytechnic, believing that is his way to success. After that, he believes that somehow he will get a good job that will give him self-fulfilment. But that is not the case now. Over the years, many students have witnessed how the system has failed to reward those that passed through the educational system.
An average secondary student is not motivated because he sees his senior brother that did very well in school and graduated about four years ago still without a job and his cousin with nothing to show after he passed out six years ago from the polytechnic with distinction.
Students are also seeing people who had not really done well in school, or have dropped out of school, doing great things in their lives compared to their counterparts that are educated. Therefore, a lot of students no longer believe in the system.
Do you agree with the National President of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals Of Secondary Schools, ANCOPSS, Chief Adeniji Falade, that the president should declare a state of emergency in the education sector?
I won’t say the school system is bad but it lacks the drive that will motivate students to be committed and dedicated to their school work. The enthusiasm that should drive the system is absent. There is no vision, the school system is left unguided and undirected.
What went wrong?
There is no vision at the national level. The Bible says when there is no vision, people will perish. When there is no vision at the national level, there will be nothing to bring us together to achieve our individual goals. A nation or an individual with no vision lacks direction because as you progress in life, it is your vision that will guide you and gives you a path to follow.
How can we address this problem?
We need to enshrine vision and purpose into our education system at the national level. We need to re-enact our vision at the national, state and individual level. When we have a unifying vision, we will be able to set our goals and learn to stay focused on them.
When we enshrine vision in our education system, there will be commitment by those running the sector and better attitude by its stakeholders.
What can students do to overcome this challenge now?
As a student, if you cannot take a clue from the national vision, you can not take a clue from the educational vision, you must start to ask yourself questions; why are you here, why are you alive and what do you want to achieve in life?
To realise your dream, you must also ask these questions: what are my talents, what are the things I can do naturally and what are the skills I need to acquire that will take me to my dreamland?
Nobody is self sufficient, you need a guide. An average student cannot answer for himself. He needs to ask someone trusted and experienced to help him prune his career choices and make other vital decisions as he progresses in life.
As a career expert, what advice would you give to students?
In one of my motivational books for students, Conquering Academic Frustration: A Purpose-based Approach, I wrote that to tackle the problems of academic frustration, it requires personal responsibility. When we tackle it at our individual level, then it would have been tackled at the national level. We are all responsible for our lives. As students, our academic responsibilities must be our first priority.
The major problem students have is lack of direction, a lot of them have conflicting interests demanding their attention and the least of which is their academic work.
First and foremost every student must have personal vision, it will give them the ability to look ahead and strive for something meaningful. When you are in a state of purposelessness, you will be driven around by anything that comes your way. That enthusiasm that keeps your mind focused on your goals will not be there.
As a career counsellor, I have also identified the importance of career test for students. At this stage they will need to start making definite choices which will affect their future. This starts in the Junior Secondary School, JSS, phase. To make the best career choice, they will need to identify their strengths (what they are good at) and weaknesses.
What is a career ?
It is a life time commitment, because it is usually considered as ones professional life. Career is generally defined as a life-work chosen by a person to use his personal talents and skills to provide goods and services to people and at the same time earn money. So it is what you are alive for. What a person decides to do to achieve his ultimate goal in life
Is there a difference between career and job?
It depends on how you look at the job and why you are working. A job can be a career. You can get a job in order to fulfil your dream, but it is not always the case. Basically, job is something you do for money and when it is limited to that, it is not your career. So it is not every job that you choose that is a career. Career involves doing something that align with your personal aspirations, it allows you to focus on your passions and interests. When a person does a job that will not allow him to meet his vision or goals in life, it is not a career
There is a huge difference between the mind-set of a person holding a job and the mind-set of a person with a career. For instance, a student can decide to take a job because he needs money to further his education or to travel abroad, but when another student decides to take the same job because he wants to learn the job, acquire skills and get connected with the people in that profession, that is a career.
Career involves careful planning and preparation. To choose a career it is important your interests and goals in life are considered.
How can students know the right career for them?
I believe that the starting point for each student is to look inward and ask this vital question: who am I? They need to know their personality types. The first major career decision students make is at JSS3, when they have to decide which career path to take. They need to find if it is Sciences, Arts or Commercial class that will be better for them. An average student can’t take a right decision if they can’t answer the question. Part of the way to know this is to do a career test, a psychometric tes.
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