Should We Start Child’s Education with Lies?

June 18, 2022

Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty. Honesty is of God and dishonesty of the devil; the devil was a liar from the beginning. The greatest truth is honesty, and the greatest falsehood is dishonesty. The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty.” – Abu Bakr (573 in Mecca – 634 in Madina), founder and first Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate from 632 until his death.

Most readers would have read about Shiv Khera, US-based author of motivational books and a motivational speaker. Among the titles of his books are: “You Can Win”, “You Can Sell” and “You Can Achieve More”. About 18 years ago he took a motivational speech session at Valleyview Hotel at Manipal and I went all the way from Mangalore to hear his presentation. And one of the anecdotes he gave still rings a bell in my ears.

A father takes his two young sons, born one year apart, to a cinema. He bought a ticket for himself (full ticket fare). Then he bought a ticket (half fare) for his younger son. At that point, the ticket seller suggested that he could buy a half fare ticket for his elder son as well assuring the father that nobody will notice or question. But, the father says that both his children will notice and judge his father for acting to save some filthy lucre.

Now we come to a news report about many parents cheating school managements lying to save on school fees by declaring themselves poor.

The relevant report is condensed below.

RTE: Schools hire detectives to catch those forging papers

Ahmedabad: City’s private primary schools have started hiring private investigators to nab parents who got their wards admitted to Class 1 under the Right to Education Act 2009 (RTE) by submitting forged documents of their financial status. According to sources, a number of schools have found many documents submitted by parents to be suspicious and are investigating it further.

Total 65,027 students have been admitted under the RTA Act this year in three rounds of admissions. The state government has made available 71,154 seats under RTE in 9,957 schools across the state.

Sources said that about 2% of the total admitted students were found to have taken admission using forged documents. They further said that the school managements have found that houses of many children admitted under RTE Act have air conditioners and cars, but have submitted forged documents to get admissions.

As many as 70,000 children of economically poor families will be given admission under RTE Act for which the government gives a grant of maximum Rs 13,000 per child to private schools.

“We have not yet received any complaints from school administrations for fake admissions. We will take action against erring parents if we get any complaints,” said Ahmedabad city district education officer.

Sources said that the school administrations do not file complaints but they force such parents to pay regular fees- thus keeping the authorities in the dark.

The subject is open to many views. What are yours? Your response is welcome in the format given below (Pl. scroll down a bit).

 

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By John B Monteiro
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Comment on this article

  • Rudolf Rodrigues, Mumbai

    Sun, Jun 19 2022

    John Sir, even the world's #1 brand has been caught for unethical practices to increase sales of their newer models; then what to talk about ordinary mortals like us and what example does it set for the future generations?:: "Instead of doing the honorable and legal thing by their customers and offering a free replacement, repair service or compensation, Apple instead misled people by concealing a tool in software updates that slowed their devices by up to 58%," Mr Gutmann said. "I'm launching this case so that millions of iPhone users across the UK will receive redress for the harm suffered by Apple's actions. "If this case is successful, I hope dominant companies will re-evaluate their business models and refrain from this kind of conduct,"

  • Vinod Kumar, Mangalore

    Sat, Jun 18 2022

    Why go far. forget parents of the students the minsters avail all benefits and compensations meant for poor. The list is endless. All social welfare programs, influencing tenders and securing contracts for thier company, jobs etc have been secured by minsters and for thier curry trail by misusing thier powers and twisting facts. Regarding Honesty, one doesn’t have to be rocket scientist to understand the honesty of the govt to the people and it’s rule. It’s a endless and bottomless topic in India.

  • Rudolf Rodrigues, Mumbai

    Sat, Jun 18 2022

    John Sir, forgery is very common & everywhere nowadays; when high profile, highly educated bankers and chiefs, religious heads can indulge in forgery to siphon of 1000s of crores, anybody from the lower rung's mind would stand justified isn't it? Do you know how many upper middle class families including rich Gulfies are enjoying the BPL card status by submitting dubious documents; don't know how their conscience allows them? Do you know how many greedy lawyers, doctors, chartered accountants, etc. indulge in faking documents for money? These professionals themselves advice clients on faking in return for percentage cuts! In this context, your write-up on the miniscule amount of faking school admission documents wouldn't raise much eyebrows! By the above, I don't mean to encourage anyone to indulge in such activities against their conscience! You name one thing where there is no such activity going on a large scale? FYI, mostly the rich and powerful indulge in such activities much much more than the poor!


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