Empowering Societies: The Case for Affordable and Accessible Education - Paper Sample

The cost of education is rising sharply all over the world, especially in African countries. Many tertiary institutions charge exorbitant prices to students to enable them to access education and school facilities. Thankfully, The United Nations education programs aim to ease students' burden by providing programs to allow increased access to education globally (Spring 10). However, countries are weighing the pros and cons of offering affordable education the ability to provide free education for all is becoming more of a possibility as time progresses as well and the advancement in technology provides the means for this milestone thus: as Nelson Mandela said, education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world

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Education helps to better society. Educating more people enables better problem-solving for daily challenges, making society grow faster than an uneducated society. For example, when people are educated on modern agricultural farming methods, it will lead to more farming hence more food for the community and better quality farm produce (Yell et al. 77). Besides, educated people can better understand their respective cultures' history, for example, Hinduism, and comprehend their economic situations. This makes them more ethnocentric and proud of their cultures, making them more inclined to them; hence they participate in decision-making and improve their country. Also, when more people have access to education in a country, the number of skilled workers increases more people join the work sector, eventually decreasing the wealth gap between the social classes.

Economic improvement. Many students worldwide graduate with a considerable amount of debt on their shoulders, which is even more likely to rise with interest rates. It may take many years before they manage to pull themselves out of debt, which only keeps growing (Yell et al. 80). On the other hand, there is delayed spending on other things such as houses or land for investments. Contrary to that, if the students were to graduate without debt, I could quickly track their ability to earn, save, and spend, thus improving the economy. With increased consumer sending, there is more demand for goods and services relating to higher work demand in the workforce, which is a positive injection to the economic cycle due to the increase of employment opportunities. Furthermore, fear of debt among learners may make them avoid school altogether because the motivation to learn will be diminished by the reality of students' debts.

Increased Workforce. With technological improvements, a massive shift is being witnessed in the modern working sector; most automated jobs like proofreading emails are fast replacing the old manual labor model, especially with works that require repetition. Automation does not necessarily replace the entire workforce; instead, the economies are shifting to a more professional working society; with good analytical and creative thinking abilities. If more students are taught and practice these skills in colleges, then the entire working society will increase due to a more agile working and thinking workforce.

Equality. Affordability in access to education for many students attending college is a significant headache making the school environment partially an unequal playing field for academics and extra-curricular activities (Yell et al. 83). A huge chunk of bright minds come from low-income families, which shouldn't be a reason to hold them back from continuing their education and pursues their dreams. Learners should be presented with unequal opportunities to attend school and enjoy the privilege of going to any school. Hence affordable and free education is one of the critical steps in achieving equality.

Free education boosts academic achievements. When learners are not distracted by school fees, they can focus more on intellectual abilities rather than worry about getting the money ((Yell et al. 89). Even with student loans and financial aids, the learners still fear how they will repay the loans in the future after schooling. These added distractions can negatively impact their focus when they are required to participate in learning activities with their instructors. Lowering school fees makes learners achieve more academically.

Increased Levels of Happiness and Health. Educated people are more likely to be happy because they can form meaningful relationships with other learners, both in school and after school. Educated people are more aware and conscious of the decisions they make, such as who they want to meet and what activities they want to engage in (Spring 1). Higher levels of education make learners less nervous, calm, and happy. On the contrary, less educated people are often scared and insecure, thereby affecting their overall well-being and health. Doing away with education fees makes learners enjoy a stable life due to increased income, which boosts general well-being.

Lower Criminal Activities. On its own, education makes people spend time meaningfully studying and participating in other meaningful activities like drawing and playing ball games. It has a more relatively permanent impact in enabling one to change one’s behavior and preferences for time consumption (Spring 15). Teachers in school advocate learners to exhibit positive behavior by rewarding them, for example, being considerate to the other learners by resecting their properties in schools. Although some learners may deviate, many learners will accept positive behavior, which will help combat crimes like radicalization into cults, and other crimes. Therefore, education will help reduce overall crime in the long run.

Freedom to Choose the Course They Enjoy. With the provision of free education, more learners would choose the course they enjoy and pursue it to the highest level possible (Sanders n.p). However, with parents' or students' influence, loans, current learners are pushed towards courses with more post-graduate jobs available and a promise of a job by a family member or a friend due to nepotism and corruption. Curses with higher fees are required to make parents and students more reluctant to choose them regardless of whether they lack them or not. Free education makes learners enjoy their courses stick with it and eventually avoid burnout while studying.

Learners will have a better outlook on life. Providing free education to learners makes them in their unique way. They are motivated to have a positive outlook on life and become bootstrapped in their activities (Gutmann and Sigal, 865). Although they may be educated in the same and the same education environmental conditions, the children will have the freedom to choose what they want to achieve in life. Suppose, for any reason. The learners are unable to further their education to the highest level possible. In that case, the basics they have acquired in school are more than enough to make them mature and forward-thinking individuals.

Life Security. Education is a lifetime investment to learners as well as the country at large. Providing free education to learners helps them tackle their day-to-day activities in the best way possible. It makes them more responsible and dutiful in their behavior toward themselves and others (Gutmann and Sigal 870). Education also helps learners acquire new skills and knowledge to impact their development in their social and personal development. The students can join the workforce become entrepreneurs, or further their education in school. In all cases, the lifestyle will improve, which enhances the economy of a country. Knowledge should, therefore, be available to all learners in all economic zones.

On the contrary, education should not entirely be free because of the logistics involved in running a school, primarily in administrative and student affairs. However, the government should work hand in hand to ensure that learners don’t miss school due to too high school fees; instead, an affordable program must be formulated to counter the expenses of running a school setup.

Conclusion

To conclude, education is a fundamental human right as stipulated in the United Nations Article 26, which states: 'Everyone has the right to education.' It is a non-legally binding instrument but with a great political and moral force. Since its adaptation, the right to education has been reaffirmed in numerous human rights treaties and declarations adopted by the United Nations. The United Nations has been mandated to lead the Global Education 2030 Agenda through Sustainable Development Goals. Education in this respect has more advantages and must be provided for all regardless of Age, Sex, Gender, or Race.

Works Cited

Gutmann, Amy, and Sigal BenPorath. "Democratic education." The encyclopedia of political thought (2014): 863-875.

Sanders, Bernie. "Make college free for all." The Washington Post 22 (2015).

Spring, Joel. American education. Routledge, 2017.

Yell, Mitchell L. et al. "Free appropriate public education." Handbook of special education (2011): 77-90.