by Mohd Ishaq Shah
“IF YOU WANT TO DESTROY A NATION, DESTROY ITS EDUCATION SYSTEM.”
– Michael M. Boone
Very recently we could read the stinging news that the NEET Examination 2026 has been cancelled after the allegations of a paper leak from Rajasthan state. This is a death rattle of the education system in India and a bolt from the blue for a layman and especially for a learner who shapes his mind in a way that he roams in an idealistic world till such dumbfounding news comes to the market and all the dreams are shattered like a castle made of sand. And all the foundations of his dream world are stirred by a ghostly wind of a withered structural system. The quote that I have mentioned here implies that a nation doesn’t need to be bombed or have nuclear weapons required to destroy it. You only have to pull off the mat of knowledge from its people, and they will automatically be destroyed.
Although the quoted statement is frequently attributed to Nelson Mandela or historical figures like Chanakya and Napoleon Bonaparte, the precise origin is actually a passage from the 1998 book The Chaos (written under the pseudonym Michael M. Boone), which states, ‘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. This quote highlights a harsh reality: a society’s foundation is only as strong as its professionals and leaders. When the integrity of an education system fails, allowing institutions to falter or permitting cheating, it produces unqualified doctors, incompetent engineers, dishonest judges, and inefficient leaders. The resulting collapse of these pillars slowly destroys the nation from the inside out.
Despite launching various schemes and flagship programmes, why our country can’t control the downgrading of educational standards simply indicates the failure of structure. Why corruption has been ingrained in the blood of people. Why moral consciousness has gone from our land. These are the questions that strike the mind of every Tom, Dick and Harry except those who are involved in structural corruption. How come it is possible that the country’s topmost exams, like NEET, NET and NDA etc undergo a paper leakage that destroys the careers of lakhs of youth who take unlimited toil and burn midnight oil to get such exams cracked? Consequently, the undeserving candidates get selected and get paid by the govt, and the service impact factor is zero, which in turn results in national resource wastage. As a matter of reference, I would like to mention some written evidence from international journalism.
Aemro Worku, in his article “Education under Siege in Ethiopia – 30 August, 2025″, reacts with the same intensity about the declining education system in Ethiopia. The author underscores the loopholes in the Ethiopian education system. And tries to maintain a balance between the public and private sector educations. Addis Abeba, in his article published on 20 OCTOBER 2025 mentions “The quote by American educational reformer John Dewey, ‘If education does not teach you to resist injustice, it has failed,’ serves not merely as a philosophical reflection but as a moral indictment of the current state of Ethiopia’s education sector. As the author personally witnessed as a university student and later as faculty at Addis Ababa University and a researcher at the Institute of Education Research, since 1990, Ethiopia has witnessed a remarkable expansion in educational access, guided by the 1994 Education and Training Policy, which enshrined education as both a constitutional right and a national development priority.”
So far as the education system in our country is concerned, it has been turned into a business hub instead of serving the purpose of educating future generations that have their role in taking the nation ahead. Low standard of private universities, colleges and schools of our country has been given a big bolt to the foundations of the education system. At the same time, the corruption in govt universities has deprived thousands of intellectuals of their opportunity to serve the nation through the means of education. There is no regulation on private universities with the exception that some basic formalities are completed because most of these universities are managed by the country’s top-level politicians and bureaucrats who have no one to ask what they are doing. Coming to the foundational stage of the education system in our countries, it still goes like it used to go 50 years back. Still, we are not able to come out of the traditional exams system and custom of lenience during the board exams plus loose evaluation system. The result is that we are taking our nation to the Dark Continent, from where they will return back and will be lost forever, for the target of our leaders is only to grab national resources and enjoy the luxurious life that the political structure provides them with.
The way forward: Denying education to weak learners is no solution to the problem, but definitely the categorisation and allotment of courses according to learners’ interest and capability will help us a lot to reform the system. The 7 C’s of 21st-Century Learning that are very crucial to the foundational development of learners are given hereunder.
- Critical Thinking & Problem Solving: Analysing, evaluating, and reasoning effectively to solve complex problems.
- Creativity & Innovation: Thinking creatively, working with others to innovate, and implementing new ideas.
- Collaboration: Working effectively with teams, compromising, and building community.
- Communication: Effectively communicating, analysing, and creating media, as well as listening.
- Computing & ICT Literacy: Proficiency in information, communication, and technology literacies.
- Cross-Cultural Understanding: Understanding diverse perspectives and navigating a globalised world.
- Career & Learning Self-Reliance: Developing independence, adaptability, and self-directed learning skills.
A major shift in the education system can be observed from the pre and post-British rule till today in India. Initially, children were educated in Gurukuls which was later modified and the modern education system was introduced. After India became independent, the constitution committed six fundamental rights, of which one was the Right to Education. It allowed free education for every child up between the ages of 6 and 14 years.
The education system is mainly divided into pre-primary, primary, elementary and secondary education, which is followed by higher studies. However, there are many drawbacks and loopholes in this system which if curbed can work for the overall development of the country.
Regulating the higher education system is the paramount need of the hour. Research quality needs to be improved. Private universities offer research opportunities in bulk, and entry to the research field has fewer formalities. Online exams and interviews undermine the quality of research and potential of scholars. How come it’s possible that a university lets the scholar in without interacting with him in an offline mode? Second problem lies in the govt-run universities that are totally corrupted, and a proper lobby system works there that results in substandard quality of research for the deserving who are denied admission. There must be a selection committee comprising outside members who have no intimacy with the PG level students. Reservation policy must be avoided in case of admission to the research programme. The biggest problem with the education system lies with the recruitment exam agencies that have totally been manipulated by politicians and bureaucrats.
A transparent exam system needs to be initiated, or on-the-spot interviews should be given first priority. No written exams can do any betterment to the future discourse. Language qualifying criteria in centre-sponsored departments must be eliminated, as it keeps back thousands of intelligent candidates from entering the system that can give us better output than the traditionally selected candidates. One cannot understand why an aspirant for an English language teacher post should qualify in Hindi. Why should a scholar of mathematics qualify in the Hindi section of the exam paper when his field of study is different? Indeed, the language required for communication purposes can be improved later on through training courses. In time, the recruitment process should be given the topmost priority. As it has been seen, the state govts take a long gap of 5 to 6 years to initiate the process of recruitment, while the centre govt has a regular calendar that gets least varied sometimes but not by years. Meanwhile, we stop recruitment processes; thousands get retired from services, and lakhs pass out of colleges and universities, hence creating a large vacuum in the departments that affects the work culture and the outcomes of the services. Why should the budget always be a hurdle to our govt for reform? Why is there not a financial plan to meet the required finance for ensuring regularity in recruitment processes?
Why should we follow the contract/ad hoc/need-based tactics? Why shouldn’t we follow a systematic pattern so that we can eliminate unemployment as well as improve the work culture? But all this needs a sincere heart and a sharp mind that perhaps our leaders don’t have. Why we can’t regularize the service of contract/ Ad hoc/need-based employees, after following a proper procedure and after fixing a specific service period in such cases, will help us maintain our budget and tackle the unemployment process as well. Concluding, let me say that if sincere efforts are not initiated and the system is not regulated, surely the time is not far when foreigners will rule us again. And we shall never be able to come out of that captivity until doomsday sets in.
The author can be mailed at ishaq7007@gmail.com
