NATIONAL 2 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Bitter Lesson

Fake certificates and false hopes have created a class of frustrated families

By AKSHAY SHARMA

Fake certificates have dominated news headlines, especially after parliament questioning the credentials of the high and mighty. The following conversation, which took place at friend’s house, provides a glimpse into how one family has taken this evident erosion of the value of education.

"Guess, what father? I’ve been accepted by Kathmandu University, Saint Xavier’s College," said the son.

"That’s just great, son," the father said. "But are you sure you want to go to college?"

"But, father, you always said the only thing one needed is a good college education," the son said.

Ministry of Education : Rising demands

"I know a lot of people who are big wheels in the country today never had a university education. You know my very successful friend in Baneswor; he’s never entered a college. He’s one of the movers and the shakers in the country," said the father.

"But, you went to college," my friend stated.

"If I had known what I know now, I would never have made that mistake. I wasted nearly two decades of my life studying. I would have been driving a taxi then instead of wasting my parents’ money on books and fees. Just because I made the mistake is no reason that you have to," the father said.

"I expected that you’d be pleased that I got enrolled into an Ivy League of Kathmandu," the son added.

"Just because these colleges accepted you doesn’t mean you should join them. I hate to see them load you up with all the intellectual nonsense that can mess you up for the rest of your life. You already have a brilliant mind. Besides, every college that has accepted you is a part of the elitist establishment. By the time you graduate, you will think that you are better than everybody else." The father’s answer had us both perplexed for sometime.

"All I want is to go to a good college," the son replied.

"You say this now because you are young and idealistic. But when you get older, you will discover it is not the college but the man that matters. One of my friend’s sons couldn’t do well and failed his exams. He is now studying in a foreign university far better than the colleges that have accepted you. He bought a fake certificate from Bihar," the father said.

Except sighing and coughing, I hadn’t uttered a sound. I said, "It’s a great problem, these fake certificates, isn’t it," a remark I think nobody noticed.

"What do you want me to do, father?" the son asked.

"It’s your decision, son. I don’t want to influence you in anyway. But if I were your age, I would backpack and trek across the country. I’ve never seen so many beautiful places in this country. Besides, backpacking across the country will teach you more than any of the fancy institutions," the father added.

"Father, can I ask you a question?" the son said after a while.

"Go ahead," was the gruff reply.

"Are we broke?"

"No, but if you go to one of those institutions we will certainly be."

"OK then I will go to the cheapest public college under the wing of Tribhuvan University," the son said in a barely audible dismal voice. "It had been always one of my choices."

"Thanks son, you just saved the old ship from sinking," the father said.

"There has been a massive exodus of brilliant young Nepalese abroad. Some go to work and some merely to escape from their responsibilities here," the father said.

"What about studying in India?" the son asked

Annoyed by the feeble conclusion of the son, the father added, " You’re a - - -." And then followed a language that a less sweet tempered man than my friend would probably have been offended by.

If I had begun in some other place to tell this story, I would have likely told it to the end. But the topic was education qualifications and the conclusion was, there’s a lot to a successful life than degrees. The stairs that lead to success, the stairs that never seem to be the same stairs, from one day to another, now they are steep, and now shallow, and now long, and now short, and now dangerous and now safe.

There are institutions in Nepal and around the world that offer better horizons. But the increase in the number of fake university degrees, usually traced to Bihar, is helping to make certificates valueless in the long run.