‘Collapse of education is collapse of the nation’: Statement goes viral amid NEET-UG exam row in India
‘Collapse of education is collapse of the nation’: Statement goes viral amid NEET-UG exam row in India
A warning about the state of the education system, purportedly from a South African university, is being widely shared in India in the wake of multiple scandals involving the National Testing Agency (NTA) and its exams like NEET, UGC, as well as paper leaks and the so-called “solving mafia”.
What is the message?
“At the entrance gate of a university in South Africa, the following message was posted for contemplation:
Destroying any nation does not require the use of atomic bombs or the use of long range missiles. It only requires lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in the examinations by the students.
Patients die at the hands of such doctors.
Buildings collapse at the hands of such engineers.
Money is lost at the hands of such economists & accountants.
Humanity dies at the hands of such religious scholars.
Justice is lost at the hands of such judges...
The collapse of education is the collapse of the nation,” the quote says.
The statement has been widely shared by social media users in the context of the allegations that the paper of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) was leaked ahead of the exams held last month.
Why is it trending in India?
The quote, whose origins are unclear, has been shared several times on social media since the results of the NEET exam, which was held on May 5 at 4,750 centres across India, were released.
The results sparked outrage and nationwide protests amid alleged irregularities after as many as 67 students scored a perfect 720. Since then students across India are demanding a re-examination.
In connection with the ongoing case, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) in the Indian state of Bihar, on Sunday (Jun 24) arrested a “solver gang” member who had received a PDF of the solved question paper of the NEET-UG exam on his phone on May 4, a day before the examination.
As per reports, the person arrested in Bihar was among five held by the EOU from Jharkhand’s Deogarh district on Sunday.
Is the message for real?
The quote, whose origins couldn’t be independently verified, has been making rounds on social media for years now. A simple Google search revealed that the statement dates back to a Facebook post in 2017, but it could be older.
Over the years, people on various platforms have claimed that the quote was written by South Africa’s first democratically elected president and civil rights leader Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi, who played a key role in India’s independence from the Britishers.
(With inputs from agencies)