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Diploma vs competence

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-15 08:27

Blind worship of diplomas nowadays is as stupid as general phobia against intellectuals in the decades before 1978.

A decree issued by the Chongqing municipality bureau of human resources and social security is exactly the reflection of such stupidity. It requires that all its civil servants under the age of 35 by the year 2012 possess at least an associate degree by that year. Failure to do so would cost them their jobs. The decree also says that the municipal government will pay the tuition for civil servants willing to earn a diploma in their spare time.

The policy's first blunder is equating a diploma with work competence. A diploma is a credential. More education may increase a person's knowledge in a particular field, but that does not necessarily elevate his or her competence in doing a particular job.

Many more factors apart from a diploma decide whether a person can be competent. If a person does not like his or her job, even if the capacity to do a good job is there, he or she may do a very poor job because of the reluctance to pour dedication into it. A person with a strong sense of responsibility will always do a better job than a person without it.

True, it is always advantageous to gain more education. All government employees either with or without a higher education diploma should be encouraged to enrich themselves by studying in their spare time. But the problem is that the government has no right to foot the bill for the education they receive. This is the second fallacy about this policy.

If a particular government employee excels at the job and further education will help a great deal with the job, the employee should receive further education or training in a particular field. There is no reason for a government to foot the bill for any government employee who has no higher education diploma.

A civil servant who wants to improve should be a private matter. It borders on corruption to pay tuitions for government employees to get a diploma in order to maintain their jobs.

This irresponsible policy, will easily bring credit to both the bureau and the municipal government. By the year 2012, the southwestern city can report to its higher authorities that all their government employees have diplomas of higher education. But we doubt how much this government will improve its governance with such a policy.

This is obviously a policy with more emphasis on formality rather than on substantial ways to improve the government employees' working capability.

What such policy projects is the lack of responsibility and earnest attitude of governance.

(China Daily 08/15/2009 page4)