THIS is a global phenomenon that I am not the first to warn of, but it will have serious consequences in the very short term.

There was a time when achieving good grades or passing the course with a brilliant record were meritorious achievements and indicated that the student in question had many possibilities of having a satisfactory professional future and a relatively prosperous life. It was understood that the qualifications obtained had been the result of effort or talent, or both at the same time. It hasn't been like that for at least two decades.