Language Agenda: Knowledge above Certificate

Knowledge is older than certificate, and competence (is) the oldest. Competence is the crescendo of knowledge. It has taken knowledge to conceptualize certificate, but the implementation of the conceptualization has been the power of competence. Great thinkers who formulated institutionalized learning and certified levels of education, themselves, never had certificates.

In the annals of the Knowledge Industry, many personalities who have left imprints of intellectualism never had certificates. Some of them did not even climb the highest academic ladder, yet contemporary scholarly community cannot do without their theories and concepts.

A classic example of these great men of knowledge is William Shakespeare, who is globally regarded as the “Father of English Literature.” Ironically, this literary guru of no equal dropped out from school at his formative age.

This analysis is not to downplay the importance of certificate. Not at all!!! It is rather to emphasize the ultimate objective of certificate: competence for the advancement of society and for the progress of humanity.

Dear reader, with or without certificate(s), the relevance of your knowledge to society is justified by the level of your competence. Yes! We are in an era of academic credentials. But in response to the sophistication of knowledge acquisition and complexity of international affairs, the world would continue to be competency-based.

Those who have foresight may agree with me. In view of the technological revolution, a day would emerge when competence would be the only criterion of competition for leadership and survival. When the day dawns, knowledge would be brought to the doorstep of people through “Information Super Highway”, and the prestige of certificate would succumb to the command of competence.

Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo, Acting Registrar, Hudaibiya College, Accra

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