Free education for all: It sounds nice! A slogan of struggle, probably very laudable... But. Is this really fair?
Let's think it on this way: A free education, by itself, isn´t really free. Someone, directly or indirectly must pay for it: The statement? Rich people? Each of us?
Let´s study this three posibilities:
1.The state funds: Chile is a country that has grown quite in the last years, but, is it able to fund a free education? The Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a given period (normally one year)and that is used as a measure of material well-being of a society, whereby, it is a good measure of comparison among countries.
In 2010, Chile's GDP amounted to US$ 212.740.792.703.
Some of the South American countries that has free education are: Argentina (GDP of US$ 368.736.062.144, considering that country has federal states), Brasil (GDP of US$ 2.087.889.553.822). Obviously, the GDP of those countries is higher than Chile's one.
Now, to not enter into comparisons, How the treasury of Chile pay for free education?, By tax rises? Raising taxes, either to companies (First category) or to people (Global complementary, implies that who has to pay is the forgotten middle class, Why? We are go to see this on the second point. The State, by itself, isn't able to finance a free education for all, because, finally, it is going to transfer that cost, inversion, trouble or however you want to name it, to other by taxes. Is it fair? By a royalty to copper? That is to say, make foreign investment decrease because of a miner royalty for the education, so, this would imply that we running out of enough tecnology to exploit the copper. Is it the best solution? Considering that Chile, doesn't have enough tecnology capacity for the copper explotation, so the foreign investment is necesary.
2. Then, rich people: Is it fair let rich people finance the education? I mean, a tax rise to rich people. But, why someone who earns more money than the rest of the people has to pay their education?
Now, if we rise the taxes to the companies, Who would ends paying for this?: Consumers. Companies, would rise their prices because they finally would seek for compensation.
3. And finally, every of us: As all we know, ordinary people can't pay the college. Rich people, probably can, but, the rest of the people, would can?
Thinking on this three options, I think that a free education would can be fair only if it's not free for all. I believe strongly that free education must be for: 1) Who really needs it (poor people), funded by the State, discussing how to obtain resources, only for academic excellence people. 2)Middle class by bonuses (scholarships)and less hard credits, again, for academic excellence people; and 3) People who has money pay their education because they can do it.
I agree in certain things that you wrote, as free education must be available to poor people and it's very logical the position of rich people who can really pay the university or expensive schools bacause their comfortable economical situations, but what about the middle class?. Because the middle class Chile had been growing in the economic area, this class is the one who pays everything, and work to move this country, so i belive the goverment and the state has to have better considerations to middle class, better politics in the education.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYes, you're right, that's why I also wrote about middle class on the second point:
ReplyDelete"2)Middle class by bonuses (scholarships)and less hard credits, again, for academic excellence people".
Delete
It may be added to this that while there are so many differences in quality between private and municipal education at primary and secondary, higher education ought not be so lightly subsidized. The poorest people are the ones who benefit are obviously due to their socioeconomic status, but have no advantage to obtain academic excellence due to the not very good quality in teaching. The middle class is running with the problems, because the rich have money to study. The most vulnerable, receive scholarships. The middle class debt. Is there justice in education in Chile knowing that if most of the country wants to be studying a profession, has to borrow for very high sums of money?
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, there has been progress in this area, but there is still much to do and much to improve.