WITH HELEN J. CATALBAS
EDUCATION is one of the reasons why people travel to other cities, provinces or countries. It is one of the products in the tourism portfolio of many destinations in the world.
The quality of education obtained by people distinguishes them from others of the same species.
Expectedly, the higher the quality of education obtained, the better the culture of a certain group of people in a particular place. Or so it seems.
But what does education really mean? Is it completing elementary, secondary basic education and baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees? Or is it the culture that is developed as a byproduct of education regardless of the level that counts?
We don’t intend to provide template answers for these questions. Your answer is as good as my answer.
We have always maintained that education is the foundation of good behaviour. That means the more educated a person is, the better should be his/her behaviour as a member of human society, the clearer is his/her perspective of human relationships. This means that this person should be a promoter of peace and harmony in the family, community and country.
In real life, though, this seems not to be the case as some holders of doctorate degrees are not epitomes of good culture, good educational standard and good behaviour. Worse, they could be the cause of deteriorating quality of education as they are easily humored by students who are obsessed with getting high grades.
When this unfortunate incident happens it signals the demise of the quality of education in an educational institution.
Economics is one of the reasons why some people struggle to obtain certificates in higher education in certain fields. With higher degrees, these people get cruder, ruder and more gross to say the least.
It is observed that some of them are willing to trade their body and soul for a piece of paper that means nothing to the rest of mankind because of the lack of culture and lack of finesse that go with that precious piece of paper.
Worse, they have cultivated a new brand of braggadocio that is common to those similarly situated.
We don’t mean the same peas in the same pod. Some have more education, more culture and more finesse than those who are driven only by the pay envelope and not by the noble desire to contribute their level best in making this world a better place to live in.
We can only wish this learned lot who have gone through school should also allow school to go through them./PN
