# I. Introduction igeria boasting of having the largest total population and of the highest literate population in the African continent has not really lived up to the claims. Currently, Nigeria possesses the largest population of out-of-school learning youth in the world. Abdullahi, Danjuma;Abdullah, John (2014). From different corners of the World, education is seen as a viable tool for socio-economic transformation. As a major ingredient for economic growth and development, education helps man to acquire knowledge which he needs to live an effective life in the society. The Webster dictionary (2015) defined knowledge as "information, understanding, or skill that one gets from experience or education". Implicitly, One of the undeniable functional value of education to man is the extent that it enables him perform desired activities that can engender economic growth. To corroborate this as quoted in Owoeye, Akindubi and Omofonwan (2016), explained that "economic diversification is educational in nature because the pedagogy for effective and efficient coordination of the concepts and inculcation of adequate skills, competence, values, and attitude is through education, (vocational and technical education)." Notably today, countries that are forces to reckon with in the world economies, especially fast emerging economies like India, China, Brazil etc. at a point in the history of their economic growth decided to redirect efforts into their knowledge base, especially the area of science and technology. In 1947 Jawaharlal Nehru was quoted to have prophesied to the Indian Science Congress that "As soon as we get over our present troubles, there will be a flowering of science and other activities in India which will probably astonish the world". It is apt to ask ourselves that 'has the world been astonished by what India has done today? The answer to this question echoed in the reports of Times Magazine (2007) that 'the world's largest democracy is living up to the dreams of 1947'. As far as the Indian economy is concerned today, it had breached what was called the Hindu rate of growth (of about 3%), and today is growing about thrice as fast as what it was some 25 years ago. Indian businessmen are making waves around the world, acquiring foreign assets which some years back would have been inconceivable". This economic turnaround is believed to have been spurred by investment in their knowledge base, especially in the area of information and communication technology (ICT). But where is Nigeria? Ajibade et Odebode ( 2018) provided the answer to that question and said "Nigeria with a labour force of about 109 million but 83 million are fully employed, 14 million are underemployed and 12 million are totally unemployed (equivalent to the combined population of Botswana, Djibouti, Gambia, Lesotho Namibia, Comoros, Cape Verde and Western Sahara)." The functionality of Nigeria's education system has been called into question of the employability of its' graduates at different levels whether self employed or employed (under private and public services). From the definition by Wikipedia above, education is definitely for the acquisition of learning, knowledge, skills, values, habits not just for certification purpose. # II. Education in Nigeria Education in Nigeria is overseen by the Ministry of Education. Local authorities take responsibility for implementing state-controlled policy regarding public N education and state schools. The education system is divided into Kindergarten, Primary education, Secondary education and Tertiary education. Nigeria's central government has been dominated by instability since declaring independence from Britain, and, as a result, a unified set of education policies has not yet been successfully implemented. Regional differences in quality, curriculum, and funding characterize the education system in Nigeria. Abdullah et al (2014) Over the years, it is necessary to compare the quality of education given by schools in Nigeria, schools in Nigeria can be classified into Private and Public Schools. The Private schools as the name implies are owned by individuals but authorized by the government after some accreditation requirements are met while public schools are schools owned and run by the governments at different strata i.e. Federal, State and Local. The private schools came into existence due to the alleged failure of the government schools to give quality education. But these private schools are now today in the largest sphere of sub-standard schools popularly called "Mushroom schools". Their existence has been further facilitated by lack of interest or readiness by the government to see to the quality of education in Nigeria. This brings into question of what types of education are being ran in Nigerian classrooms? The Nigerian classroom has speedily lost its glory of bringing out higher quota of intellectual minds # III. Knowledge based System of Education The knowledge based educational system as adopted by many leading countries of the world has proven to be a vital rescue hand for any nation on the path of failing educationally. The knowledge based education system which is seen as the system which places more emphasis on intellectualism in learners rather than emphasizing on the certificate outcome of a learning process. The knowledge based system set out to test the intellectual ability of the participants in an educational stage rather than their level of memorization. The system is embedded with the three domains of learning which are the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domain, the three domains summarily put into the knowledge based system encourages the use of the senses to feel new knowledge, brain to process the input knowledge and the hands and other media of output to present the result of the two earlier processes. This system though with some shortcomings has proven beyond doubt as the best system of learning science and technology. Products of science and technology can be achieved not only in the laboratory but also in the Society at large which is the true definition of an education for national development. # IV. The Knowledge based System and the Economy The USA Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, 1998) define a knowledge driven growth as "one in which the generation and exploitation of knowledge has come to play a predominant part in the creation of wealth". It also describes it as an economic system which is hinged on the most effective use and exploitation of all types of knowledge in all manner of economic activity" Charles Leadbeater (1999) posited that "the idea of the knowledge driven economy is not just a description of high tech industries. It describes a set of new sources of competitive advantage which can apply to all sectors, all companies and all regions, from agriculture and retailing to software and biotechnology even to other service industries" Little wonder therefore, why he reiterated that "the knowledge society is a large concept that covers every aspect of the contemporary economy where knowledge is at the heart of value added -from high tech manufacturing and ICTs through knowledge intensive services to the overtly creative industries. As such, in economic diversification strategies of emerging nations of the world, "the role of knowledge (as compared with natural resources, (physical capital and low skill labor) has taken on greater importance. In relation with Nigerian scenario, a country willing to develop economically is suppose to forge a "Siamese twins" like relationship with knowledge but Nigeria is standing alone, Education is standing on its own while Science and technology are also standing alone. One study regarding the involvement of the national government in education and literacy programs concluded that the high illiteracy rates in Nigeria were significantly related to the government's lack of commitment towards its standardized education policies. Abdullah et al (2014) V. Certificate based System: the Nigerian Model Many scholars have inputted enormous time into finding out the causes of Nigeria's failure in achieving functional education but the initiative and effort has yielded little or no result in the recent past. The Certificate based system is that system of education that place utmost emphasis on certificate from an education over the knowledge gained from the process. This system which is supposed to be alien to any society trying to grow and develop through education is the major system at the center table of the Nigerian educational system. Much expectations were placed on the 6-3-3-4 and the 9-3-4 as the 'messiahs' for the educational realm of Nigeria but with the introduction of the 6-3-3-4 system of education in Nigeria, the recipient of the education would spend six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary school, three years in senior secondary school, and four years in a tertiary institution. The six years spent in primary school and the three years spent in junior secondary school are merged to form the nine in the 9-3-4 system. Altogether, the students must spend a minimum period of six years in Secondary School. During this period, students are expected to spend three years in Junior Secondary School and three years in Senior Secondary School, at the end of all these different certifications are expected to be gotten at various levels, Primary School Leaving Certificate for the Primary Education which succeed the Kindergarten stage, Junior Secondary School comes with Basic Education Certificate Examination, the Senior School Leaving Certificate for the Senior Secondary level and the First Degree after the undergraduate years. The list is endless but the result hasn't really been helpful to the country. The certificate based system in Nigeria has led many students into the hot race for temporary memorization and sometimes illegitimate means such as examination malpractice, result buying, impersonation and bribery but most of these are more rampant in the higher institutions of learning and sometimes in the secondary school levels. Promotional examinations and other assessments are the major talk-points in the certificate based system, the caste system of grade serve as sieve among students of different intellectual level, A maximum of nine grades are assigned to each subject from: A1, B2, B3 (Equivalent to Distinctions Grade); C4, C5, C6 (Equivalent to Credit Grade); D7, E8 (Just Pass Grade); F9 (Fail Grade). Credit grades and above is considered academically adequate for entry into any University in Nigeria. In some study programs, many of the universities may require higher grades to get admission to certain highly placed courses. # VI. Effects of the Certificate based System on Nigeria's Educational Outcomes As good as the system is to some aspects of the education system, the overlapping side effects are detrimental to the educational products of the system. The philosophy, curriculum, instruction, pedagogy and evaluation have really been impacted on by the system and in totality have shown on the view of stakeholders (Government being represented by the Ministries of education, curriculum planners, private and public, society, teachers and learners). Some of these effects are stated below: ? Much importance has been placed on the certifications after any educational stages. ? Low productivity of the educational outcomes in the system ? Total overhauling of the Nigeria's philosophy of education ? Low functionality of science and technology education in the country ? Encourages malpractices of different forms such as (result buying, bribery, impersonation, forging of certificates, ghost students etc) ? Churning out of certified but unqualified graduates into the labour market. Also, the vocational education or vocational training programme which was reignited in the early 1980s, as a result of high unemployment rates for school graduates, the Nigerian government placed a new emphasis on making vocational programs available to students. Chuta (1986). The most significant plan for improvement was the Master Plan for 2001-2010 for the Development of the National Vocational Education system developed by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2000. But, although with its own challenges for the successful enforcement of this system which includes a shortage of teachers, poor statistics on the labour market needs, and outdated curriculum and technology at vocational training centers; what has been the outcome of the whole policy and actions on vocational trainings on the unemployment and technological advancement of the country? Many scholarly works have been done by erudite Nigerian scholars on the problem facing the educational system of the country but many have shied away from the major problem of the system which comes from the badly orientated teachers and students alike. Accusatory fingers have been pointed at the government in recent on the issue of poor funding or under funding, political interference, low teacher remuneration, lack of necessary learning facilities et cetera. All these challenges are true but if solved and the problem of orientation on what education is meant to be remain unsolved, then Nigeria is not ready to make impressive headways in the education sector. # VII. Conclusion Sometimes, when measuring the functionality of education in a country, the system is placed under scrutiny to find out the how functional it is and to detect any loophole hindering the system. The Nigerian educational system which favours' the perception that certification is the only reason to be educated without minding the level of real knowledge of the learning content. This has become really evident from peculiar cases of field workers such as a company that employed a graduate with honours but still had to The two concepts of "schooling" and "education" has being misconceived by everyone even the administrators rightly forgetting that education is not just about going to the classroom, taking notes, cramming them and writing the examinations to be awarded the certificates but also how to grow intellectually and become a functional members of the immediate environment. A retrace of steps back to what education is meant and suppose to be is the only viable solution to rescue Nigeria from the brink of unproductive graduates who are the product of the dysfunctional educational system which has been unconsciously chosen by the nations' education stakeholders. The following recommendations should be considered by all stakeholders in the educational sector most especially the government at different levels: 1. The Federal Government should as a matter of urgency declare a state of emergency on the education system of the country. 2. The Federal Government should also task the Ministry of Education and all stakeholders on the need for a result-driven educational revolution. 3. Re-orientation programmes should be created for teachers, students, parents and society to redirect their view from the general conception of education as just to get certificate but also all round human development. Year 201912Volume XIX Issue VIII Version IModel I:END RESULT OF CERTIFICATE BASED SYSTEM OF EDUCATIONG )(Global Journal of Human Social Science -SOCIETYSCIENCEKNOWLEDGETECHNOLOGYJUST FOR CERTIFICATE EDUCATION LOW NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTNO SYNERGY AMONG THE FOUR ELEMENTS WHICH FINALLY LED TO LOWNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT© 2019 Global Journals © 2019 Global Journals * Nigeria Education Profile" Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine. U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria References Références Referencias 1 * The Political Will and Quality Basic Education in Nigeria" (PDF) Danjuma;Abdullahi JohnAbdullah Politics, and Governance 2 2 June 2014 Journal of Power * Skills Training and Vocational Education Project AfricanDevelopment Fund Appraisal Report. Federal Republic of Nigeria 2005 * Effects of Professional Courses on the Attainment of Career Goals" 3rd Muslim Management Science Student Association Seminar BOAjibade TOOdebode 2018 Ekiti State University, Ekiti State * Knowledge Driven Growth and Economic Diversification: Lessons for Nigeria JDAkindubi VOOwoeye 2018 * Analysing Europe's New Economy LCharles 1999 Europe's New Economy * Free Education in Nigeria: Socioeconomic Implications and Emerging Issues EJChuta JSTOR 1188364 Comparative Education Review 30 4 1986 * Economic Diversification in a Mono-Product Economy: The Role of Vocational and Technical Education GOOmofonwan 2016 7th * Annual National Conference of the School of Vocational and Technical Education Adeyemi College of Education Ondo