Greetings!
During my secondary school days, there were times when I was selected to participate in scholarship examinations. Despite being chosen multiple times, I was never among the top two, which was always the benchmark for qualification. It was evident that the teachers often ensured their children were among the top two...this happened twice and the children of the teachers were picked.
I'm not here to criticize the corruption of my teachers but to discuss why they picked us for the examinations in the first place: our high performance in class, which reflected our intelligence. Back then, we knew that a scholarship exam occurred every two years, so we usually put in our best effort to be selected. Being chosen to write the exam was an honor in itself, whether we won or not.
This brings me to the question of whether giving monetary gifts to brilliant students is good or not.
The thing is, once there's a prize attached to a task, humans naturally like to put in their best effort to claim it. Awarding brilliant students with prizes (any worthwhile prize) will motivate them to perform even better and inspire lower-level students to strive to reach the top.
As I mentioned earlier, I was once in that position, and I know how such incentives motivated many of us to study hard and ensure our positions were always between 1st and 4th place each year to warrant selection to compete in the exam.
What about cash prizes and nothing more?
The truth is, money rules the world now, and having it means almost everything is achievable. I don't see anything wrong with awarding a cash prize to a brilliant student, but I think it would be far better if the prize were in the form of sponsorship, such as the following:
Sponsoring a brilliant student to the highest educational level he or she can achieve.
Sponsoring the student to the university level from their current educational stage.
Giving out cash would be good only if the parents of the child or the recipient themselves don't misuse it. Money has a funny way of attracting unforeseen expenses, and it may end up being used to address those, leaving out the main reason it was given. Of course, emergencies, especially involving life and death, can arise, and the money might be used for that purpose.
Additionally, money can influence someone's behavior. If a student is given the money, there's a possibility that they might start living above their means, and before long, the money could be gone. They might also decide to invest in a business, which could fail, and the money would be lost. Life is about taking risks, but it's much riskier to invest money meant for something else into an uncertain business venture.
Money has the capacity to destroy any system once greed sets in, and that's not far from what's happening in our current world. Although greed and political agendas might spoil the positive value of rewarding a student for his or her brilliance, the advantages attached to it far outweigh the troubles it brings.
Cash prizes are good if they are well-managed, but for a more stable outcome, sponsorship is a better option.
Thanks for reading.