College and University education has become very important in today’s life. Without a college degree, a person is unqualified for jobs such as teaching, engineering, and nursing. Some people believe that university graduates should pay the full cost of their education; others say that university education should be free. Let’s consider the advantages and disadvantages.
One advantage from this is that this will improve the plight of “financially disadvantaged but deserving students”. This means that students who are impecunious can still be given a chance to study college and pursue higher education. After all, the Constitution states that the government shall provide “accessible” and “quality” education to all. (Based on House Bill 5905 and Senate Bill 1304). Secondly, this will lead to a more productive and more educated society as the percentage of people who study will go up. And third, everyone will be given a chance to pursue higher education.
On the other hand, people say that the cost of education would fall on the taxpayers. According to research, the taxes might add up as high as 20% if the free tuition notion would fall on the taxpayers. People also said that if the tuition is free, education might be taken for granted; and that the investment in state colleges and universities, would eventually lower down.
Let us consider each point of view and understand each positive and negative sides.
A free tuition for State Universities and Colleges (SUC’s) would result to a more productive and educated society, as it offers benefits and advantages to society.
First, everyone will be given a chance to pursue college, and to graduate, regardless of their economic background. Secondly, this can give the country greater competitiveness in current global shift towards knowledge economies. Based on statistics, the country can have a higher knowledge economy, if everyone would be given a chance to study and graduate. Third, this can result to
increased access to the Philippine’s higher education just like in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Brazil, and other countries, that, based on research, has the best higher education systems in the world.
On the other hand, critics say that subsiding college tuitions will result to many problems. And even though it is well-intentioned, the free tuition policy alone also has its disadvantages.
It will not only be inequitable (serving as a subsidy for rich students), but also distortive (inducing rich students to shift to SUC’s) and unsustainable, since it will require enormous tax resources yearly. Since top-up fees will enable more investment in universities, it would help attract the best teachers and researchers; free tuition would mean lower investment in state colleges and universities. In addition to this, the cost of college education includes the cost of books, projects, transportation, food, and accommodation; even with free tuition, the poor students still won’t be able to afford the cost of higher education.
This issue has both positive and negative sides as we saw above. We must consider each point of view from this proposal. In making our decision we must not forget, that “Education is a privilege, not a right.” From this proposal, we need to think about “free tuition” in a much broader sense; because there’s no denying that high tuition and fees can be an important barrier in SUC education. In conclusion, the question may become “what is a fair tuition?” And that is the question that needs resolution.
Comments