Introduction
Education is a process through which people acquire different skills, values, knowledge, beliefs, and desirable behavior. This term is mostly associated with schooling, where people get to learn these aspects (Norton, 2018). However, the term is broad and consists of daily interactions with people and the environment. It has been grouped into two categories, including formal and formal kinds of education. Formal education has gained popularity over the centuries, and it is what most countries, people, and educators are concerned with (Krason, 2017).
Education is the backbone that every economy in the world relies on. Countries both developing and developing spend fortunes in ensuring the quality of teaching and curriculum for their various nations (Peterson, Radebe & Mohanty, 2016). Education is what gives people knowledge about different facts about their surroundings and impacts them with the power to change or improve them where necessary. In simple words, education is the key to unleashing people’s potentials and determining the quality of life they live in (Astakhova et al., 2016) . it enables people to develop positive perspectives on how they view their environment, gives them skills, create positive personalities and attitudes for the betterment of human lives.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Education serves to direct people to set common values and beliefs such as norms, goals, and objectives through various situations of socialization in the community (Peterson, Radebe & Mohanty, 2016) . It makes it possible for humans to make discoveries that will enable them to work and interact with others with ease. These discoveries include technology through scientific inventions throughout all fields of learning that education has supported in their inexistence. It also gives a voice to humans as they get enlightened to be able to fight for justice, equality, and fairness of treatment in society (Belfield et al., 2017) . Different industries that serve to employ people rose as a result of education. And most notable of all is the fact that education has enabled placement in the society where individuals with high achievements in their education get chances to occupy the most prominent positions in the community.
Cost of Education
The high cost of living makes it difficult to afford education. The economy has changed drastically, increasing the price of tuition (Bhardwaj, 2016). Despite the efforts of the state and federal governments to invest heavily in the educational departments, families in the United States still feel the pressure of paying tuition fees to the schools. The American government provides free public schools; however, college education has been left as an individual burden and to organizations that offer scholarships (Belfield et al., 2017) . The cost of living makes it difficult for families to make hard choices on whether to facilitate pursuing higher education for their kids or to concentrate on providing for their daily needs.
Higher education is associated with achieving career goals (Bhardwaj, 2016) . Most students, after completing their high school, they want to pursue higher education. This need is prompted by the higher standards set in the job industry that requires one to have attained higher education. With these desires to acquire higher learning, families may end up getting in debt with student loan boards and other financial corporations and institutions (Belfield et al., 2017) . These activities sometimes lead to family getting bankrupt even before the child completes school or puts the student under so much pressure to work to pay for their education. Working and learning may be so tricky and can sometimes make a learner lose focus in their acquisition of knowledge. Therefore, making tuition-free for all should be the goal of every nation.
Reasons Why Education Should Be Free
One, free education promotes equality (Peterson, Radebe & Mohanty, 2016) . When there are no costs of tuition, there will be equal chances for everyone to attend and complete their learning. This relief will also facilitate equal opportunities in the job industries. Removing the burden of education would enable the people in the lower class to climb up the economic ladder (Astakhova et al., 2016) . Since people who lay in poverty have continued the same trends since they are unable to afford the costs of education, they will have a chance to change their fate.
Two, education improves the society’s living standards and assures an inflow of workforce (Astakhova et al., 2016) . Through undergoing different levels of education, people gain an understanding of essential aspects like their history and economic status. Astakhova et al. further states that this knowledge widens their minds to participate in nation-building activities and politics to improve these aspects. Also, through education, more people gain employable standards and secure positions in the employment industry, thus lessening the gap between the upper, middle, and lower social classes. Education serves to satisfy the economic needs such that the sectors are flowing with skilled workers to replace the unskilled. Such acts enable high production in companies, and during a downturn in a particular industry, the available workforce can quickly rise another to replace it (Bhardwaj, 2016) . This flexibility ensures that society standards increases as the workforce widens.
Three, free education guarantees debt-free graduates who work to build the economy (Peterson, Radebe & Mohanty, 2016 ). Education debts demotivate youth from seeking higher education. Also, many students graduate from universities and colleges with heavy burdens of debt. These debts have interests which continue to accrue as time passes (Astakhova et al., 2016) . These loans force graduates to start paying soon after they get employed. The fear that the interests will increase impacts the economy negatively since they do not begin investing and acquiring property such as cars and houses that generate revenue for the government. The economy could further benefit if these graduates could start earning, saving, and spending as immediate as they get employment.
Counter Arguments
Although there are so many advantages to providing free education to a country, it is faced with several challenges. First, free tuition will impose financial burdens on taxpayers(Norton, 2016). It is widely said that nothing comes for free. Norton further claims that the implementation of the free-tuition program for all levels of education will have negative impacts on taxpayers. When the taxing rates increase to pay for free education, it will include property owners. This inclusion will be of a disadvantage, especially to those with no children to attend this type of training, most especially higher learning. A further impact that will arise from the increment in taxes will be the high cost of living. The price of commodities and services, even those that are essential, will rise.
Second, free education is likely to lower the quality of education (Krason, 2017) . Removing the tuition fee on education will attract more students to join. This attraction will lead to crowded classes and low student persistence towards learning. Most colleges charge extra fees for retaking units that students failed. In the free education set up, students can be demotivated, fail, and since no charges are applied, they re-do the course. Also, it will be difficult for students to choose the institutions they want to study. The government will have to develop a means of placement that might affect students’ interests (Norton, 2016). According to Norton (2016) this will lead to national debt as experienced in developing countries.
Third, free education will have adverse impacts on private institutions (Norton, 2016). Most likely, the implementation of free training will occur in public schools. This act will have adverse effects on the enrollment rates of private colleges. People will consider taking their children to public institutions over private schools since they would not want to incur costs where they could avoid it. The revenue that the government collects from charging private institutions will, therefore, decrease with the decrease in the enrollment of students to these schools.
Finally, free education does not address issues of occupation (Norton, 2016). Removing tuition fees from school will result in too many students attaining diplomas and degrees. This influx will reduce the worth of such certificates as it fixes people to traditional colleges. The country may then suffer the shortage of skilled workers since there is no emphasis placed on vocational and trade training (Krason, 2017). The dependency rate of people on employment will increase with the decrease of opportunities since there will be many graduates in the market.
Conclusion
Education is associated with all-round developments of nations. Countries classify knowledge as the key to which opens economy doors in countries. Making it accessible and affordable for all has been a significant objective for centuries. However, despite the efforts of many governments, this goal has not been met. Some counter-arguments claim that making education free would lay a heavy burden on the country’s economy. According to Krason (2017), the impact of revenue development is not directly felt by the economy. He further states that it is an individual burden that a parent and the student should carry and not impose it on others that will not enjoy the benefits.
Making education free for all should be the goal of all nations. Although the cons seem to outweigh the pros of providing free education for all, it remains something so crucial to the aspects of every citizen’s life. It gives people the power to express themselves and take part in various activities of development and provides a sense of equity among individuals of different economic classes. Moreover, the number of literate people a country bears measures its rates of progress. With the rapid growth in technology in the world, compulsory and free education should be provided to impact people with the required knowledge and skills to cope in this developing environment. This act will not only add to the nations’ development but also the individual citizen. Governments, therefore, have to make reforms to enable free education for all their citizens.
References
Astakhova, K. V., Korobeev, A. I., Prokhorova, V. V., Kolupaev, A. A., Vorotnoy, M. V., & Kucheryavaya, E. R. (2016). The role of education in economic and social development of the country. International Review of Management and Marketing , 6 (1S).
Belfield, C., Britton, J., Dearden, L., & Van Der Erve, L. (2017). Higher Education funding in England: past, present and options for the future: IFS Briefing Note BN211.
Bhardwaj, A. (2016). Importance of education in human life: A holistic approach. International Journal of Science and Consciousness , 2 (2), 23-28.
Krason, S. M. (2017). What’s Wrong with Guaranteeing a Free College Education?. Catholic Social Science Review , 22 , 395-398.
Peterson Ph.D., L., Radebe, K., & Mohanty Ph D, S. (2016). Democracy, education, and free speech: The importance of# FeesMustFall for transnational activism. Societies Without Borders , 11 (1), 10.
Vince Norton, V. N. (2018, March 16). Why free college is a bad idea . Norton Norris Inc – Higher Ed Marketing & Branding Schools since 1990. Retrieved August 15, 2020, from https://nortonnorris.com/free-college-bad-idea/
