The Professor who taught my first Histology of Anatomy class was of the opinion that academic wise, my classmates and I were lucky generation. ‘Lucky’  in the sense that we had everything at our disposal. We didn’t have to walk long distances to school, lend textbooks from libraries and study under discomforting situations. There is the internet, technology and most recently, Artificial Intelligence. According to him, since  knowledge isn’t difficult to access, excelling is easier.

What my Professor doesn’t know is that the  average Nigerian Gen Z is an academically unmotivated student for valid reasons of course. Figures from the just concluded 2024 JAMB show that a whopping 76% of JAMBITES scored below 200/400.  If this isn’t a National crisis, what is? The greater population of youths are uninterested in studying hard. Since  having high grades isn’t considered a big deal anymore, why bother?
  Technological advancements have paved alternative routes to financial freedom which do not involve burning the midnight candle in front of countless materials. The focus has changed, academic titles are no longer enticing as everyone just wants to be rich. In an obviously rigged system, graduating with flying colours  isn’t a guaranteed path to success. White collar jobs are almost impossible to come by and not even as lucrative.

Should I talk about the volume of information in circulation? More information invariably means more knowledge to take in, meaning there’s more work to be done on the path of Students. Being born in a technological era doesn’t mean the manual to block distractions and digest only helpful materials was imprinted in our DNAs. 
I surely cannot exhaust the numerous reasons why this generation is at a disadvantage. Excellence has been reduced to ordinary, a walk in the park even, anyone can succeed even without putting in soo much; take people involved in robbery and internet fraud for instance!

Since I dare not argue with my Professor, I kept my mouth shut till the end of the class and brought my grievances here.