When you clip wings of scholars, do not expect the children to fly

University lecturers face pay disputes as concerns grow over the value placed on education. [Courtesy]

There is a village where the chief fears the schoolteacher, the wealthy man fears the village elder, and the politician fears anybody who can explain why the village remains poor despite receiving development funds every election year.

In this village, a man who cannot read a budget may become its custodian, while the professor who can explain every comma in it must first explain why he deserves enough money to buy cooking oil.