To successfully move into the future, people must have the opportunity to choose. In the education system, it is necessary to have alternative forms of acquiring knowledge. Another vital aspect is to practice different styles and methods of teaching; the more educational programs there are, the more chances young people have to understand themselves. It is important to analyze the social aspect and disadvantages of free higher education.
Ideally, it is paid education that should offer alternative forms of acquiring knowledge, give room for experimentation, search for new approaches to learning, and can contribute to the acquisition of new knowledge throughout life, and not just in adolescence. Some young people do not fit into the generally accepted university framework, and not always a lack of abilities is a key factor. Quite often, the reason is completely different – it is their overabundance (Spring 66). In such situations, a quality alternative to paid education is an individual approach, expressed in the form of a personal plan.
It should be noted that free education should become an alternative, not completely replacing paid education. In the absence or an insignificant share of free education, the country is unable to develop the required number of personnel. The birth of an intellectually outstanding child is not timed to the income and type of the family, which shows the absence of a correlation between education and the economic factor (Spring 78). In any state, there should be many different universities; along with a limited number of elite ones, there should be universities of the second and third registers whose bachelor’s degrees are not highly rated. Nevertheless, they allow graduates to work in their specialty or move on, improving their qualifications if they wish. The more young people get an education, the less misunderstanding, and tension in society, and the higher civic consciousness.
Getting a higher education is always a responsibility, practice shows that studying solely for the sake of a diploma has its pitfalls. When choosing a university where it is easier to enter or where the payment is cheaper, a person subsequently faces two main problems. They have to work in an “unloved” specialty since they could not get a job anywhere (Spring 198). In addition, there may be a need to retrain, and this requires money and much more than spent on the first education because the cost of education increases annually.
Based on the foregoing, it should be noted that the most serious advantage of free education is accessibility. Social inequality, which arises, among other things, due to different starting conditions, leads to the stratification of society (Hodkinson 21). As a general rule, citizens of any state have different incomes and living standards, which can significantly complicate or simplify the receipt of paid education. However, such a strategy only passively endorses class division. It is because of this phenomenon that the issue of free higher education is a social problem.
The need for free higher education cannot be declared radically. Such a system must be smoothly integrated, mixing with a paid type. The fact is that free universities are not implemented autonomously but are subsidized by the state from the budget. For any economic system, this will be a huge expense that management may not be able to cope with or seriously sacrifice efficiency and quality. In other words, if all places in universities are made completely free of charge, then other specialists working in government positions will receive a reduced salary. If this scenario is avoided, then there will be an increase in prices for products and utilities (Hodkinson 34). In general, the state budget has its limits, so if one item of expenditure increases, then the other decreases. Based on the foregoing, free education is a very expensive segment, but for the state, not for society.
In addition, the lack of sponsorship from clients contributes to a significant decrease in the quality of university services. The fact is that any household, repair, and program work for any institution are items of expenditure. In the absence of sufficient income, there is a shortage of both personnel and materials, which gives rise to a gradually declining level of professionalism of future specialists (Hodkinson 56). At the same time, competition among students is decreasing, since any potential student can get the profession he needs. In turn, this leads to a shortage of specialists in any area.
Thus, the question of the need for free higher education is very ambiguous. To prevent class inequality, but at the same time ensure stability and quality, it is necessary to develop a mixed program. In other words, both types of universities should exist so that students’ opportunities differ not in financial status, but in the quality of knowledge. Concessionary programs, grants, and intellectual competitions can enable people from low-income families to receive expensive services. In addition, due to paid educational institutions, the economic system of the state will not be overloaded, and the quality of education will not fall.
Works Cited
Hodkinson, Alan. (2019). Key issues in special educational needs, disability and inclusion. SAGE Publications.
Spring, Joel. (2019). American education. Taylor & Francis.