The Paper Leak Exposed the Real Crisis

Questioner: Acharya Ji, today the education system faces serious questions. The allegations of NEET-UG paper leak, student suicides, and the subsequent protests have drawn the attention of the entire country. Students are protesting at Jantar Mantar, and Sonam Wangchuk is also on a fast, demanding accountability. Do you consider this just an administrative failure, or is it a sign of a deeper crisis in our education system and society?

Acharya Prashant: Yes, it is indeed a sign of crisis, and the matter is serious. And since the matter is serious, it should be understood seriously. We don't feel like taking it, give an instant reaction. But when the matter is serious, it should be paused, considered, and looked at seriously.

It was the NEET exam paper. We are talking about 22 lakh students who are applicants. These are 22 lakh families. These are 22 lakh families. And this is not just an incident that happens on the day of the paper. Some of these students spent two years, some four years, and some even five years. They invested so much time that they left the playgrounds. They had left their childhood behind. They had left the simple way of living. They had left festivals and celebrations, and had said that they would dedicate themselves, and we will show success. Whatever success meant for them, we will come to that later. And they find out that the paper got leaked.

All right, the administration takes action on it. The exam is conducted again, and arrests are also made. But when this happens repeatedly, almost every year there is an incident of a paper leak. This is not the first time NEET has been leaked, and different exams face different kinds of irregularities every year.

So the trust of the youth is broken. They say there is no value for our knowledge and effort. They say that only those who are dishonest and have money, who can go and buy the system, will succeed. And this conclusion does not stay with them for just one day, not in just one incident. It does not remain in just one year of life. They live their entire future life with this conclusion. Now think about what kind of citizens they will become.

Truth, honesty, knowledge, labor, skill, trust, in these begins to wane. And the entire family is affected by this. The entire network of relationships around them is affected by this because, in India, it often happens that the whole family has collectively helped a student prepare. The young person is carrying the burden of the entire family's dreams on their shoulders. So everyone is affected by this, and everyone breaks down.

We need to understand that the situation is serious. It has reached a point where 5, 10, or perhaps 15 suicides have occurred, and we are talking about recent months. If you add how many students commit suicide each year, harm themselves in different ways, you will find that statistics are not even available because there can be countless ways to harm oneself, and a person is breaking down from within. Their trust in the world, in the system, is disappearing. This, in itself, is a very big self-destruction. So this is the situation.

We see the anger of the youth every year. It was seen last year too. It was seen the year before last as well. I had written about it this year too. I wrote a column on it in the newspaper. You all had come before and asked me to say something in a video in the same way. I spoke about it last year. This is happening every year. And trust, trust in people is continuously breaking. They react a little, and then it's the same old story.

But this year, something different has happened. This year, a trustworthy person has emerged. And why am I calling that person trustworthy? Because, as much as I can see, being a human, I'm not omniscient. I cannot look into someone's heart. But as much as that person's track record testifies, they are a serious and sincere person.

I'm talking about Sonam Wangchuk. He, in a place that is like a dry desert, a cold dry desert, taught people how to conserve water. Where our formal system was not able to provide education properly, there he brought children to school. All right? Through his life, he has shown that education is not just about rote learning. Education can also mean living a proper life. And he has received international recognition and so on. So we have enough reason to believe that this person is trustworthy.

Now, regarding some of their demands, he has gone on a hunger strike. I do not know the politics of their demands. I'm not very concerned with politics, but still I will definitely speak on this issue as a teacher. A teacher who is watching another teacher heading towards death. It becomes necessary to speak.

So first of all, I would say to Sonam Ji that, look, you can serve India more by staying alive. It has been 18 days since your fast, your hunger strike. Please break it. To society, to Ladakh, to India, to the environment, to education, your presence is needed. So this is my request to Wangchuk Ji. And since he wants to talk to the Government of India, I would also request the Government of India to please talk.

The religion of politics is democracy, and the virtues of this religion are restraint, respect, dialogue, and dignity. So talk. What harm can there be in talking? There is no harm in talking. And it does not befit democracy that a wise and honorable citizen has to risk their life just to have a conversation with the government.

So this has reached the point where the movement is ongoing, and you people have come from the media. You might have expected that I would stop after saying just this much because perhaps you can only see the movement and this entire issue up to this point. Your question also implied that this movement is happening, this is happening, that is happening, so say something about it. And I have said it. But I believe that what I have said has covered less than half of the issue so far. The real point is yet to be made.

And what is the real point? Let's come back.

What has happened? What has happened includes two events. We are discussing the first event a lot. But the second incident is more important. It is what is hidden. I will present both events to you.

The first thing that happened is a system failure. The system broke down. Brother, it is the education system. A paper leaked that should not have. Your testing system, the processes are a direct rift among them. And this rift is not new. It keeps appearing repeatedly. And regarding this rift, we all are angry, and we want that gap to be filled. But the other aspect of this whole matter is, no one is addressing it with a movement, hunger strike, or resignation. It is not being discussed at Jantar Mantar, nor in Parliament.

I want to present that other aspect to you because I don't see anyone else talking about it. The first thing is that the paper got leaked. Now listen to the second thing. The leaking of the paper, how did it become more valuable than the life of a child, a student, a young person? How did this happen that more than a dozen youths, as reported, have taken their own lives? And every year this happens. Under the pressure of these competitive exams, dozens, if not hundreds, of young people take their own lives.

Brother, understand my point. The leaking of the paper is one thing, and the leaking of the paper becoming such a big issue that our youth start taking their own lives for it is a completely different matter. Why is no one discussing this second issue? I want to discuss this second issue. It is more important.

Who taught our youth that the value of a rank is greater than their life? Who told them that their entire life is determined by whether they cleared a competitive entrance exam or not? Who taught them?

Brother, the paper has leaked. We are talking about it as if some external event has occurred, as if there was a broker sitting in the system who leaked the paper. Papers don't leak like that. Understand the point? Papers leak when there is someone to leak them and someone ready to buy the leaked paper. And not just ready to buy, but ready to pay a lot of money. And a lot of money will indeed be given when there are 22 lakh candidates for a few thousand seats. So a tremendous rush occurs, and in this rush, middlemen will naturally emerge.

I want to know: why have we forced so many of our children, in the millions, to go in only one direction? Where did this compulsion come from? And when that paper becomes such a big issue, the rule of economics is that sometimes demand creates supply. Otherwise, it could also happen that someone would be there to leak the paper, and if there wasn't so much curiosity among the customers, this wouldn't have become such a big scandal.

But today, if you see this statement, that a student's life depends on one result in making this statement, coaching centers, teachers, parents, the students themselves, obviously corrupt officials, and brokers, all are involved. And all are saying the same thing. All these are included. The entire market is decorated, both from the seller's side and the buyer's side.

The leaking of the paper is not an accident that happened in this market. It's a product of this market. One is ready to sell. One is ready to buy. Because both have agreed on a common point: that the value of this paper is very, very high.

If my child gets this paper, if he clears this entrance exam, all dreams will come true. His life will be made. We will be able to go out into the world and say, "Look, look, my child has become a doctor, an engineer, or something else."

There are so many kinds of entrance exams. And if my child is unable to clear them, then he won't just fall in the eyes of the world, but even in the eyes of his own family, in the eyes of his parents.

I want to know who set up this market. This market was not set up by the broker who leaked the paper. This market has not been set up by any ministry either. However, everyone is a participant in it. Everyone present in the market is a participant. But this value system, this value system that children should leave everything and spend many years of their lives just to clear one entrance exam, this value system is created at home. It is formed in relatives' meetings. This has all happened under the watchful supervision of the parents. The immense pressure that has been placed on this child, who created it? That is what I want to understand.

I want to ask the parents. A child was born into your home. A perfectly ordinary, innocent, beautiful child. Nature's gift you have given it. When did you turn it into an entrance exam project? Please tell me. And why did you do it? Why put so much pressure on them? Why give that paper so much value that, firstly, it sells for millions and, secondly, if the child cannot clear that paper, they end up feeling inferior for life?

It's your child. If you love the child, you wouldn't tie the child's self-worth to the result of a particular exam. This isn't about love. And this was my question to the parents.

In the same way, I want to question the teachers. See, it is well known that there are two types of education. One that provides livelihood and one that gives life. One that gives livelihood and one that gives life. One involves knowledge necessary for livelihood, and the other involves self-realization. What is necessary for being alive internally? How have you defined education as teachers? How did you define it?

And I am talking about school teachers as well as coaching teachers. You have placed a world, a concept, a model in front of the student that if you run in the race of livelihood and get ahead, you will be called successful. What have you done with the child? What have you done? You have just made it a means to earn a livelihood. Why? Because only then is there money for you too.

You have made the meaning of education into vocational education. Education no longer means the development of the individual. Education now also means that the suppression of the individual will continue. The decimation of the individual will also continue. Even if you ruin the individual who is currently our student, youngster, or pupil, it is acceptable as long as the entrance exam is cleared. You are teachers. What have you done? I want to ask: what have you done?

And just as I asked the parents and the teachers, now I want to ask the students. Yes, it's a good thing you are demanding. You are demanding justice. You are demanding a fair entrance exam. A fair exam is your right, and you should get justice, and you should demand it. But I want to ask you: the demands you are making from life, who gave you the dreams behind those demands?

When I ask for something from life, behind it there is an imagination of the future. I say, "I want my future to be like this." That's why now I have to take such, such, such, such steps in life so that I can reach that future. The model of the future you have prepared for yourself, I want to ask you who gave it to you. It's not your own. And I have proof of this. If it were your own, 10,000 people wouldn't be chasing after each seat. How can it be that 10,000 people have the same common, shared dream? How can that be? Then what is the meaning of individuality?

Certainly, if 10,000 people are chasing after one seat, it means the dream in their minds belongs to none of them. It is an imported dream. It is an imported concept. It's an implanted desire.

Someone has placed a desire within you. You know who placed it? The system placed it. Upbringing placed it. Schooling placed it. Coaching centers placed it. The media placed it. Our entire consumerist culture has instilled all these things in your mind, and you all say you are Gen Z. You say we like to be unique individuals.

If you are actually unique individuals, then why are you all running in the same lane? This is my question to the students.

You understand what I'm saying, right? Look, until we reach the root of the problem, until then, such incidents will keep happening repeatedly. We also have to address the root cause. I'm not saying don't protest against the corruption and scams in the system. Definitely do it. You should.

There should be justice outside. But there should also be awareness within. You are fighting for justice outside. You are doing a very good job. But if there is no awareness within, no matter how much change you bring outside, you will find that nothing has really shifted. Things remain as old as they were. They have just changed their names, forms, colors, shapes, and clothes. Things have remained as old as they were.

Look, we are Indians, and in India saints and wise people have been saying, for who knows how long, *"Mālā pherat jug bhayā, gayā na man kā pher. Kar kā mankā chhoṛ de, man kā mankā pher.” Let go of the mind's rotation, the mind’s change.

What does this mean? They said, "Look outside." Outside, what you are rotating. This outside rotation will not take the matter very far. The mind's rotation means the things in your hands, meaning outside. Meaning the system. You want to change the system.

The system should definitely be the best. But remember that we are the ones who create the system.

If we are flawed people inside and have created a good system outside, do you know what we will do? We will create a good system during the day, and at night we ourselves will exit through the back doors of the good system we created because we are the ones who made it. We are the creators. We are the breakers. If we are not changing from within, then even bringing systemic change will not be very beneficial.

So, there are three things of mine for Sonam Ji: please value life. Please break your fast. Your life is precious to India. You will be able to serve India better by staying alive. I urge the government, please engage in dialogue. Dialogue is a sign of civility. Dialogue is a symbol of decency. Please engage in conversation.

And India, my last question. I have no appeal or request to India. I have a question for India. How is it that whenever any incident occurs, we only see its external aspect? The root of the incident, the internal cause of the incident, we never see. We are very eager to point fingers outward and say, "They are responsible. They are responsible. They are responsible." And I completely agree that outsiders are also responsible. But as much responsibility as the outsider has, would we honestly want to admit that the insider has just as much responsibility?

The insider is called ego.

And the method to bring it on the right path is called self-realization. We need education, but not just vocational education, not professional education. We need mass education of the self. And if we keep avoiding it, such incidents will keep happening repeatedly. The lives of our promising ones, our children, our students, will keep being lost. Sometimes for this reason, sometimes for that reason.

Yes, the reasons will keep changing. So it will seem to us that we had addressed the previous reason. This time it's for a new reason. No, that reason will not be new. It will be the previous reason that has come in a new form.

So whatever you are doing outside to seek justice and change the system, please continue doing that. Having the best possible system, a just system, is the right of every student, every citizen. You are striving for that right. That is very good. But in this process, do not forget the real thing. The deeper matter. The deeper point is that as long as a person is dishonest within, the system cannot be honest.

You cannot establish an externally honest system for a population that is internally dishonest because the system is mostly being established by dishonest people. They will not let that honest system function. They will find holes and cracks in that honest system somewhere. We have created our system. It is a democracy, brother. If we are not changing from within, how honest can the system we create be?

I will only say this. I would like that this event that is happening brings as many good external changes as we can. And within us, what is sitting, who wants to bring external change but does not want to change themselves, we should also look at that honestly. Perhaps just observing this is enough to bring about change.

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