Abstract:
The indispensability of education is too obvious to ignore. It is a machinery of empowerment:
equipping citizens with knowledge, values, attitudes, competence skills and moral in a
manner that enables individuals to discover their creative genius thereby taking their place in
the culture of productivity of their country. However, this aim of education is truncated by the
educational system currently run in Nigeria. Our educational system gives undue credence to
academic paper qualifications which are seen as automatic passports to attractive salaries
and special status in the society. Examinations are essentially tests of academic ability - the
ability of recipients to reproduce retained information on demand - rather than test of
reasoning ability, competence and above all moral integrity. The outcome of this has been an
immense increase in the number of “bookish scholars” at the expense of reasonable
individuals who are critical and responsible, able to think for themselves, making judgment on
all issues affecting them and be able to understand and interpret critically government
activities, as such making positive impact in the society. This paper with the aid of Matthew
Lipman's pedagogical approach attempts to demystify the problem of unreasonableness in
our educational system and using critical analysis approach emphasizes that education
should equip recipient with critical thinking ability which is better done at tender age.
