In the modern world a university education is basic requirement to start most professional careers. Hence there is a big demand and competition for univeristy education. Some people believe that university education should be provided free of charge and others claim that it should not be free. In this essay we will evaluvate both views and present an opinion.
In todays world few countries in the world offer free education.By providng free education it gives everyone the oppurtunity at all levels to seek higher education oppurtunities regardless of their ecnomic status. For example the current president in Sri Lanka is a person with humble beginings, from a very rural area in the country with very limited financial stability. He got in to university due to the free education system in the country and became the president of the country. If not for free education individuals like our president would not be able to get a good education.
At the same time free education has its negatives also. Free education can be huge burdon on governments as running these institutes can be extremely costly. Due to these financial burdens the governments are not able fund universities properly. This impacts the quality of education provided through these universities. The universities cannot retain or attract good lecturers and cannot fund good researches which are cruicial factors for the quality of education that is provided. On the contrary universities with paid students can function well due to its financial independancy and invest in top level acedemics and researches.
In my view university education should be paid. If a univerity needs to maintain good standards and provide good education it needs to have financial independance. Additionaly governments should promote student loan schemes so every student can access education and pay back when they are earning.This will enable all students with the need to get a good univeristy education.