Should Education be Free or Not?
Education is a crucial component of any individual’s life. It positively impacts different aspects of human life as it helps an individual to acquire high living standards, better opportunities, and also landing a lucrative job. It is prudent to note that having an education means having better skills than those that don’t. Moreover, the benefits of education are not only useful to an individual but also the economy of a country as a whole. However, not everyone can incur the cost of education in different countries. A significant number of poor people are blessed with high cognitive capacity, but their social status does not favor them in pursuing their educational dreams. Life would be better for them, given the opportunity to join learning institutions and pursue their goals. This essay upholds the argument that education should be for everyone.
It is unfair to offer some people an opportunity to study while denying others. Just like the essential requirements of an individual’s life like food, water, and shelter, education serves as the basic need for any nation’s development. For instance, considering the cost incurred by a country to employ skilled personnel from outside countries due to the scarcity of skilled workforce, especially in technical fields like science, engineering, and mathematics, not only leads to the decline of its economic growth but also in job creation for its citizens. It is not only individuals who strive to be educated, but being a literate nation should also be at a political stake. Therefore, if there were an equal opportunity to attend learning institutions, which would only be as a result of free education, then everyone would have the chance to be educated.
Every nation aims at being self-sufficient by acquiring most of the essential resources on its own. To achieve such higher goals, education should be put at stake, as earlier highlighted. Although free education might be viewed as a burden to a nation due to the expenses involved in the purchasing of teaching and learning resources, paying teachers, and staff salaries, its outcome is quite incredible. Contrary to this, citizens who fail to afford education may migrate to seek jobs or even land a scholarship to a foreign country and, as a result, work outside their country, thus resulting to the economic downfall of the country since they do not give back to their country in the form of tax. Therefore, the implementation of free education not only positively impacts the economic growth of a country but also prevents citizens from migrating to seek jobs.
Public education should be freely universal and to anyone regardless of the three social classes (Mann, H.). To provide equality in education, affordability is a significant challenge for the low-class citizens; incurring educational cost has never been easy. Therefore, for the poor to cater to educational value, it will widen the gap between the haves and have not. As a result, many smart individuals who are poor, as stated earlier, fail to access education due to financial constraints. Hence, providing free and affordable education as a nation to its citizens is a significant step towards bridging these social gaps.
Educated individuals in a nation or society solve problems better compared to those who are not. This is an essential factor to be reflected on for the rapid growth of a community and a nation in general. Educated individuals can progressively understand the social, political, and economic status and growth of their society better than the contrary, which results in them not only participating in politics but also community development projects beneficial to both the citizens and the citizens the nation as a whole. Moreover, when a large number of citizens are educated in a society, the number of employable individuals for high-skilled jobs goes up. This means that the existed gap between the haves and haves would not be lessened since more people will be employed. Therefore, it is beneficial for a nation to provide free education to its citizens for an improved society.
With much more shreds of evidence, the list of supporting free education for everyone is endless. It is clear that education being an essential right for every individual, once put into consideration as a nation’s investment, will not only benefit an individual but also can improve a nation’s economic growth through producing skilled workforce, fighting poverty and reinforcing peaceful coexistence by enhancing equality among members in the society. Therefore, for a country to possess highly educated individuals who will, in return, bring back such benefits to the country, it should take the initiative of funding the education cost for the needy individuals willing to pursue their goals.
Works Cited
The Asian School, “the importance of education in the society.” The Asian School, 2 November 2018, web.
Education Essay Writing, Education Research Papers, Term papers, Dissertation Help, “The Advantages of Free Education.” Education Essay Writing, Education Research Papers, Term papers, Dissertation Help, 9 November 2010, web.
Bartleby Research.” Free and Universal Education.” Bartleby Research (n.d), web.