Value

I must say I cannot agree more with JW's advice.

The only difficulty is, of course, what is of persistent value.

In the field of finance and economy, it was rightly pointed out by Adam Smith (in The Wealth of Nations) that neither money nor precious metal serves as the infallible yardstick of value; only the productivity of labour does.

Unfortunately, productivity could never be objectively quantified.

The problem becomes more serious when we talk about capability. Yes, it seems easy to advocate students to focus on knowledge and practical skill rather than examination and professional qualification. (As the traditional teaching of Buddhism: 萬般帶不去，唯有業隨身。) However, it is the examination score or title of fellowship, not the quality of a person, that one could quantify.

Alas, by definition, quality could not be quantified.

PS. The above argument is part of the reason why I always support an open book examination for clinical medicine: One could bring (electronic) textbooks in their pocket, but examiners would always uncover the candidate's deficiency as soon as he tries to practice.