A year ago, a retired professor I have known, for over two decades, registered for a three-day conference and attended all the plenary and some paper-presentation sessions. When I asked him why he attended the conference, he said, “I love attending conferences. I enjoy updating my knowledge.” When a volunteer at the reception desk asked him to write his full name and the institute he belonged to, he asked her why such details were required. She said, “I need the details so that I can prepare a certificate for you.” He replied, “Certificate? What is it for? I don’t need a certificate. I don’t have the habit of collecting certificates.”
About two months ago, I asked a few of my friends in academia to attend a literary festival organised by a reputed newspaper group. One of them asked me whether she would get a certificate for attending the event. I replied to her, “This event is attended by hundreds of people who love acquiring and sharing new knowledge and ideas. Every year, the event attracts participants across the country. The attendees are not lovers of certificates but lovers of knowledge.” She replied back saying, “No certificate? Then no participation.”
The two anecdotes give a clear picture of the mind-sets of two different categories of teachers. One attaches importance to acquiring knowledge, whereas the other gives importance to accumulating certificates. Why are teachers obsessed with certificates? Why do they accumulate certificates? Do educational institutions assess teachers’ knowledge and skills based on the number of certificates they possess?
Knowledge vs. proof
An academic certificate is a document that shows that an individual has been certified by a competent authority that he or she has undergone and completed a course, or acquired certain competency sets. No doubt, all teachers need certificates as proof of their academic achievements. Certificates that specify one’s educational qualifications are of immense value. When certain people get certificates which they do not deserve, the certificates lose their value. Of late, teachers run after certificates for attending one-hour workshops, three-hour training sessions, one-day seminars, and so on. An obsession with certificates may force a teacher to accumulate them, but not gain knowledge. I am not against certificates. I am against their meaningless accumulation, which can be easily bought these days in certain institutions, nay, certificate markets.
When I attend conferences, out of curiosity, I used to ask organisers how many participated in a particular conference. A year ago, the organiser of a conference told me that around 800 teachers and scholars had registered for the conference. During the inaugural session there were around 300 participants, but the number started dwindling in subsequent sessions. Quite surprisingly, the hall was packed during the valedictory session. Why? The organisers had announced earlier that certificates would be given only after the valedictory session. For many outstation participants, attending a conference means sightseeing.
It seems to be easy to get certificates without attending conferences. Some teachers send their registration fee, submit their papers, ask the organisers to publish them in the proceedings and request them to send their certificates by post. Some organisers also encourage this kind of certificate mania, as they have to show in their reports that their conferences attracted a record number of participants.
What a shame! Of late, many teachers seem to attend conferences only to get certificates. How many teachers will attend conferences/seminars/workshops/faculty development programmes if they are told that participation certificates will not be given? Mere participation in conferences and subsequent submission of certificates cannot guarantee that a person has acquired new knowledge and learnt new skills. Which is more important: thirst for knowledge or lust for certificates? In theory, it is the first option, and in practice it is the second one. Aren’t both educational institutions and teachers responsible for this obsession? By placing too much emphasis on certificates, institutions indirectly encourage teachers to get certificates by hook or by crook.
Do educational institutions place emphasis on certificates for employment and promotion? Reducing an intellectual to a sheet of paper is the greatest damage that they are doing to the person and to the education system of a country. The system should create a new culture. It should recruit people who have a thirst for knowledge and not lust for certificates. By recruiting people and later promoting to them to higher positions based on the number of certificates they possess will not help institutions get knowledgeable and competent teachers. Rather, it will result in glorifying mediocrity.
Love for knowledge kills lust for certificates and lust for certificates kills love for knowledge. Are teachers ready to hack their old programme and reprogramme their mindset?
The author is an academic, columnist and freelance writer. Email: rayanal@yahoo.co.uk
