Is free education worth it?
Good day to you all my tutors and learners here on hive.
I remain this humble soul who is always ready to appreciate my existence on the surface, once we realize that staying alive is never by our power or might, then we know that all we have to do in life is to thank God for his mercy and grace over us.
As we all know that education is the bedrock of all nations. So it’s best to make sure we build a nation where if not everyone gets educated then almost everyone would have easy access to it.
I believe if everyone is educated it will be of greater importance not only to the world we are in today but to humanity and the generations to come. Education shouldn’t be a crime in the face of the citizens. Everyone can’t get to study the same thing. We all have our different aspects of talent. And being educated in those talented areas will make it better.
But there is a lot to be said about education nowadays. Is it a failure or a reason to keep going? Does it encourage the youth of nowadays to study? What are the challenges we face with education? Financial problems attached to education…
Image sourced from canva and edited on canva app
This would take me straight to the prompt for week 46 edition 2 on the hive learners community and the topic to be discussed is FREE HIGHER EDUCATION.
I would have said education should be completely free to everyone, but that won’t make it worth it. If education became something free to everyone then I would say that it might lose its value in no time. Knowledge should be acquired with effort and not just out of choices or forcefulness.
My idea on education is that it should be very affordable to seek. The price attached to it should be something people will be able to afford and will be able to cater to. If there is a meaningful price attached to it then I believe those who are interested will step in. But when everything comes for free then I can say even those that are not in need will surface, thereby making it hard for those interested to concentrate.
The lower level education can come for free because at this point everyone deserves knowledge, everyone needs to be literate at this stage. So I am going with the idea of free education for the lower levels. Basic knowledge shouldn’t be lacking in every part of a country.
This free education could be sponsored by the federal government of the country making it easier for citizens to enroll their children in education. Then a limit should be set where the child would be able to choose whether to continue with their education or venture into something else. In as much as they have gotten the basic knowledge they need.
It might sound funny but we should take it seriously, the fact that not everyone is bound to be in school. Some just need the basics and then venture into other aspects of life where their talents are. But it’s a pain that nowadays, especially in this part of the world and in the country I reside, everyone wants to force their children to school and there is the belief behind not being able to make it in life if such a person didn’t get to the four walls of the higher institutions.
I was opportune to be with a professor in chemistry at the University of Ilorin. He was narrating the story of his life to us, his educational background, and how much he had to hustle to become who he is today. I picked a lot of points from his speech that day but I would like to share the aspect he told us about his education.
He said when he was done with secondary school and was about to gain admission into the university then. I couldn’t remember the exact year. But he named the era and the government in charge. He told us about how much everyone would love to be educated and become a graduate then. He said once you are a graduate, you would be vast in whatever aspect your field of study is. So education then wasn’t that costly but it was strictly based on merit.
If you are not qualified then there is no way you can get admitted. Graduates of his time enjoyed a lot of things we can’t now. He told us about how they would be given free meals in the mornings and evenings, free transportation to the classroom, and free hostels.
He said, their bedspreads are constantly being changed every two days and they don’t have anything to worry about other than reading and focusing on their studies.
This is education! Based on merit, you pay an affordable amount for the knowledge you want to acquire, then you get other things for free without stress.
I believe if education should be of this standard, there is going to be a great turnout in the way we see education to be nowadays, loads of graduates out there without jobs, the knowledgeable ones dropping out of school because of funds and school fees, no access to educational facilities. It’s a big blow to the educational sector.
I believe this could be done without stress. And it’s from the federal government, this is their responsibility and duty. Nowadays private institutions are taking over and increasing the number of fees thereby devaluing the standard of our educational system.
There is a lot to be discussed when it comes to education and the dilemma we’ve caused ourselves. But I would be limiting it here for today till some other time.
Thanks for reading
