Running head: FREE EDUCATION 1
Should Education be Free or at a Cost?
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966, ensures that members of the United Nations have a right to free primary education which serves as a prerequisite to secondary and higher education. 169 countries across the world have ratified the covenant while four members (including the United States) have not (United Nations Treaty Collection, 2019). In addition to provision of free primary education, countries have amended this treaty to best suit their citizens. Some countries have provisions for free primary, secondary and higher education while others still require the students to pay regulated tuition fees in various levels. For example, in Sweden, free higher education is provided to both the citizens and foreigners from the EU/EEA and in Denmark, a monthly stipend is provided to students in higher education and any student above the age of 18 years in addition to free higher education. On the other hand, in the United States, tuition fee is paid by students attending colleges with most students opting for federal student loans. Government funds, taxes, scholarships and grants and endowment funds have been instrumental in reducing the cost of education across the world (Simkovic, 2016). While free education is an essential goal for most governments, its provision has been argued to promote inequality, and the efforts to make education available at no charge have led to other consequences for countries; including poor quality.
‘Education for All’ is a key goal in countries worldwide with governments developing policies towards achievement of this goal. The policies are meant to provide universal access, equality and equity in the provision of evocative learning opportunities for the students. In developing countries, such as South Africa, most citizens live in poverty with a daily expenditure of less than US$ 2. The unemployment rate in these countries is staggering and most people can barely afford to cater for their daily basic needs let alone for an expensive quality education (Motala, 2017). In the United States, maximum federal financial aid and reduced prices of colleges to 70% of what universities charge is still unaffordable to middle and working class students. Over the years, the cost of college education has been rising rapidly thereby compromising the democratic aptitude of higher education. Therefore, the students are expected to pay more tuition fees, textbooks expenditure and more money for personal upkeep. The expenses put the students at a position to seek for loans from the federal government (student loans) (American Council of Trustees and Alumni, 2017). Consequently, unemployment rates and poverty contribute to the need to provide education for free.
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However, Researchers have argued that provision of free public education equally among the poor and the rich actually promotes inequality by being more beneficial to the rich than to the poor. Students from wealthier backgrounds are able to afford quality education from private institutions that charge hefty tuition fees as well as have the ability to compete for slots in free public institutions. On the other hand, students with poor backgrounds can only get into private institutes by being extremely gifted or they are only left with the option of substandard public education. High cutoff marks are set for students who wish to join public institutions for higher education; these cut off points are equal for both the poor and rich. A disparity is created because the rich can still be able to afford education from private fee paying institutes while the low performing poor students have to drop out from pursing further education (Motala, 2017). In this case, the benefits of the provision of education for free is questionable.
Provision of free education translates to elimination of tuition fees and student loans which can be accomplished through tax codes, grants, and endowment. In Canada, the taxing system enables countries with large incomes to invest their money into non-taxable schemes thereby leaving them with enough money to pay for the constantly increasing tuition fees. In opposition, the lower income families have nothing to spare and therefore their students are left with no choice but to access various available system of loans which they are burdened with paying for years to come. The Canadian government spends approximately 0.02 percent of the country’s GDP to pay for bad debts written off caused by defaulted payment of student loans. Taxing of high income corporations and earners and reinvesting the money into education has been proposed as a solution to reduce the cost of education in the country (Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, 2015). Usage of taxes to provide free education is a trend in most countries. Most public universities receive huge amounts of subsidies from the government to foster provision of affordable education to the students. However, in countries like Chile which adopted tuition-free higher education, reports have argued that there are insufficient subsidies and grants from the government to cater for the lack of tuition payment. The country’s education system has been compromised since the higher learning institutions are incapable of covering the cost of student education (Bernasconi and Delisle, 2018). Thus, efforts to seek accessibility to free education still only occurs at a cost.
Higher education in America is one of the most accessible and diverse in the world. The education molds future leaders, citizens, entrepreneurs and thinkers; and therefore, involved parties including taxpayers, parents, and students have a mandate to make vital investments. The world class education provided in the country is achieved at a greater price. While other countries have managed to provide a completely free public higher education to their students, the United States still requires the students to pay high tuition fees that most of its citizens cannot afford leaving them with huge federal debt. However, the fees paid are hugely invested in the growth of the education system and research thereby making the country’s education a success above others. Consequently, the question on whether education should be free to accommodate everyone or at a cost to ensure continuity and growth arises. The country, thus, needs to decide if it is worthwhile to make higher education free and allow for all students to gain access.
References
American Council of Trustees and Alumni, (2017). How Much Is Too Much? Controlling Administrative Costs through Effective Oversight. Institute for Effective Governance.
Bernasconi A. and Delisle J. (2018). Lessons from Chile’s Transition to Free College. Evidence Speaks Reports, 2(43)
Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, (2015). Free Post-Secondary Education: The Case For Eliminating Tuition Fees. Fact Sheet.
Motala S. (2017). Introduction- Part III: Achieving Free Education for the Poor- A Realizable Goal in 2018? Journal of Education, 68: 15-30
Simkovic, M. (2016). Taxes, Subsidies and Knowledge: A Reply to Professor Oei. University Of Chicago Law Review Dialogue: 83
United Nations Treaty Collection, (2019). Status As At: 11-02-2019; Chapter IV: Humans Rights. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966. https://treaties.un.org/
