Should We Start Child’s Education with Lies?

  •   Sat, Jun 18 2022
  •   By John B Monteiro

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).

 

Also read:

 

 

 

 
By John B Monteiro
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

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!


Leave a Comment

Title: Should We Start Child’s Education with Lies?



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.