The statement of Sind’s minister for education that degrees of Bachelor of Education are being sold by a university at Rs 50 000 a piece should surprise no one.The rot has not set in now.It is in the evidence that some educational institutions in Sind have been selling fake degrees since long.It is alleged that there are some unscrupulous element in the HEC also which feel no compunction in attesting these fake degrees when they are presented to it for double check and verification meaning thereby that the racket responsible for issuing counterfeit degrees is deep rooted.
In this unfortunate country if one has got enough money one can wangle admission even in the professional colleges like medical and engineering .Small wonder the professional standard of our medicos and engineers has fallen down considerably over the years .Gone are the days when merit alone was the yardstick for getting admission in a medical or an engineering college.
Every cadre of education department is respectable and important but let us admit that primary education is a cut above than other tiers of education department .In the West more importance is given to the primary education because on the shoulders of the primary education school teachers lie the main responsibility to build the character of the budding children for moulding them into an honest,straightforward and hardworking nation.
The tragedy with us is that in this country a semi-literate person who fails to get himself adjusted anywhere else lands job of a primary school teacher without undergoing any formal teacher training course.Unless we improve upon the recruitment and selection process of our primary school teachers we would not be able to raise new generation for tackling the demands and requirements of 21st century.