From the Reshmi fiasco to the T&TEC shocker, to the now emerging ODPM debacle, there is urgent need to look closely and carefully at the qualifications or purported qualifications of those offering themselves for public service. We are producing more and more graduates each year and churning out more people with first degrees, masters degrees and doctorates, and even those with post-doctoral degrees. Yet, we seem to be producing no intelligent solutions for the development and betterment of the nation. We are witnessing the mushrooming of so many schools and institutions of tertiary education at every street corner like doubles vendors–you want that doctorate with slight or heavy pepper? These are of course all fuelled by the money-spinning GATE gravy train and we have to begin to seriously question the quality of the degrees and certifications which are flooding the country now.
Without proper quality controls and standards, some of these degrees would not be worth the paper they are printed upon and we would really have ole mas every day, with lots of people parading around the place, masquerading as intellectuals...Dr This and Dr That. Some of these fly-by-night tertiary level educational institutes, both here and abroad, have reduced the entire concept of a first degree at university to an extended sixth form or cyberspace video game-type of experience. A case where you just put in a last couple weeks of intense cramming and then go and vomit it all out on the exam paper, and pass with flying colours. There is no need for originality, inventiveness and creativity, just swallow the book or the course pointers and spew it back out on the exam sheet, or pay the relevant purchase price and we slap a degree on you and unleash you on an unsuspecting public.
Trinidad and Tobago has had a history of robust, vibrant intelligentsia with the likes of Williams, Capildeo, Pawan, Demas, Wooding et al. People who could sit and converse on paradigms, polemics, paintings and poetry of the great masters and thinkers such as Pythagoras, Plato, Picasso and Poe. These are men who were themselves polyglots with potent, pernicious, palpable powers of persuasion who would recognise alliteration, onomatopoeia, oxymoron and allegory. These are men who would be able to probe, push and press for the truth and come up with a prognosis, postulation and panacea for the problem.
Dr Roodal Moonilal has had cause to recently condemn the poor quality and standard of the debates in Parliament and the misuse of, and the lack of basic communication skills in the English language which is prevalent during routine parliamentary discourse. Is it any wonder that so many of our politicians end up being rigid and inflexible in thought and outlook. They're incapable of making any paradigm shifts or quantum leaps in their thinking, and utterly unable to engage their gears for lateral thinking? How can they even begin to formulate lofty ideas of their own if they cannot even conceive of, or communicate simple ideas? Where is our local version of Mensa or other thinking societies and clubs devoted to promoting and encouraging the use of brain power?
What is the level of intelligent public debate and discourse on national issues? Are any clever concepts discussed or is it reduced to the claptrap that passes for debate and discussion on so many of these radio talk shows that spew garbage and ignorance on a daily basis? Does it ever get beyond arguments about "who t'ief money" and "who's sleeping with who" and "who's favouring who because of race, religion or otherwise"? Are our leaders doing enough to keep upgrading and honing the accreditation and certification investigative process? Are they doing enough to ensure that those who present certificates, degrees and diplomas can withstand scrutiny, are properly qualified and possess the skills and talents so as to keep themselves on the cutting edge of their respective disciplines? Are some of these so-called intellectuals and qualified people for the most part, just comfortable to don their robes and mortar boards in a grand charade of parody, pride and prejudice that would make Jane Austen turn in her grave.
The fact that you have a university degree does not make you an intellectual, and in many cases the quality of the university makes a hell of a lot of a difference. It is often said that it is better to get a bad degree from a great university, than a great degree from a bad university. You could have ten such degrees and still have no real intellectualism or intellectual capacity or output. People are going to do their research, they are going to check up on you and out you, to the continuing embarrassment of the Government. Some of the smartest and most successful people this world has produced did not have university degrees, so it is not a pre-requisite to success. But if you tout and hold yourself out as having one, it had better be good and genuine and worth something.
We certainly do not wish to have a stack of paper mills just churning out degrees left, right and centre for our nationals. We need sufficient focus on putting out intelligent graduates, capable of thinking outside the box and coming up with creative, innovative solutions in our quest for building a total quality nation.