An extraordinary maths tutor came to my attention recently. She coaches children in maths and some of her pupils have achieved a degree in mathematics as young as 7 years old! Parents are flocking to her with their children. What a fantastic start in life to gain a university degree so young! The parent of a child who had recently begun tuition under her expertise told me about her. The parent had visited Mrs Jones and was full of admiration having just seen the walls of her living room covered with pictures of children wearing cap and gown, and clutching their little degree scrolls.
‘It must be scary for such a young child to go into a University to sit an exam’ I remarked. ‘Oh they don’t have to do it at the University, they take it with Mrs Jones at her house’ the parent told me. ‘Has she got special dispensation from the university?’ I asked ‘and which university is the degree validated by?’ ‘I don’t know’ replied the parent, ‘I’ll find out’. The next time I saw her, the conversation went like this:
‘The degree hasn’t been validated by a university, its validated by Mrs Jones’
‘So who writes the exam papers?’
‘Mrs Jones’
‘Who marks the exams?’
‘Mrs Jones.’
‘Who awards the degree?’
‘Mrs Jones.’
'So the ‘degree’ counts for nothing outside Mrs Jones’s living room and the hardest question on it may be 2 + 2 = ?'
‘Yes but a degree is a degree isn't it!’
'So why not just print one off yourself on your computer?'
'Damn fine idea! Why didn't I think of that? It'll save me a fortune!"
What rubbish I hear you say. As if anyone would fall for such nonsense, Mrs Jones would be laughed out of town. But substitute 'maths' for the name of your chosen martial art and suddenly it’s a different story.
Just as a mathematics degree syllabus and exam paper have been devised by experts who have studied for many years under respected teachers, have qualifications which are acknowledged and respected worldwide, so too have genuine martial arts instructors. But the new student or parent doesn’t know a genuine qualification from a Mickey Mouse one without doing some research. Dig deep into the archives my friends, not your pockets, (and beware of lots of small children clutching scrolls!)
