Reuniting with a primary school classmate reminded me how misleading our measures of success can be. He had been among the most intelligent pupils in our class. Financial difficulties interrupted his education. Years later, I thought of him when I saw someone dismiss another person's opinion because he had an SSCE while the person mocking him had a degree.
Please, let us be careful. A certificate records an educational achievement, and that achievement deserves respect. It does not give us complete knowledge of another person's intelligence, opportunities or history. Sometimes the distance between two educational journeys began with a cost one household could manage and another could not.
An achievement also has a background
I value education. I have pursued it and remain grateful for the support that helped me. Precisely because I value it, I do not want us to discuss access as though every child begins with the same choices. Stable schooling, fees, books, transport and someone willing to encourage you are advantages with real consequences.
Recognising those advantages does not cancel effort. A student can work very hard and still benefit from circumstances another person lacked. We should be able to acknowledge both without becoming defensive. Gratitude is more convincing when it helps us see people clearly.
The alternative is to turn our good fortune into evidence of everyone else's weakness. We then explain somebody's interrupted education as laziness without knowing what happened. That judgement makes it easier to ignore the practical obstacles facing the next child in a similar position.
Listen to the argument being made
A qualification can indicate relevant training. In a specialised discussion, that training matters. But it should not become an excuse to avoid examining the actual point someone makes. A useful observation about a community problem does not become worthless because the speaker did not attend university.
We should ask whether the claim is supported, whether the reasoning makes sense and what knowledge the person brings. Someone who has spent years working in a trade or living with a particular service failure may notice details a graduate has never encountered. Listening does not require us to accept everything uncritically.
The same courtesy should work in the other direction. Respecting practical experience does not mean mocking academic learning. I am concerned about the habit of turning different forms of knowledge into a contest over who deserves to speak. That contest can leave everybody less informed.
Turn respect into an opportunity
When we meet someone whose education was interrupted, pity is not always the most useful response. We can ask what they are doing now, what they want to learn and what kind of support would actually help. The answer may involve further schooling, a skill, information or simply being taken seriously.
For younger people, early assistance can matter. A community that notices a school-related obstacle before a child disappears from the classroom may be able to respond while the problem is still manageable. The help should follow the actual need rather than our preferred public gesture.
I cannot rewrite my classmate's educational history. I can refuse to use my own qualification as a reason to look down on him. May Allah continue to provide opportunities for those seeking them. The next time we feel tempted to silence someone with a certificate, perhaps we should first listen to what the person is saying.
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