A right to free education . An opinion that is very controversial.

Those who disagree bring up several arguments. Just Google it and you will find dozens of arguments. I will go through the most common ones and put them in perspective. Do you agree or disagree with these statements?

The first one is that "allowing everyone to college and university might bring the classroom level down because poor students might come to class because they have nothing else to do". Even though education would be free, poor students will not spend their time in school doing nothing when they can earn money. This can also easily be fixed when students need to achieve a minimum result to be allowed to stay in school. Amongst poor people you have also very smart people. It would be better to oblige students to have an entrance exam. This would result in having the smartest students in your college instead of the richest ones. Having the smartest graduate students would increase the image of even the most exclusive schools. More students means more institutions. More institutions means more diversity and competition among schools, which will offer improvements in education outcomes.

"Only the rich ones would benefit from free education. Everyone will need to pay more taxes so the poor ones will subsidize rich students who can easily afford to pay fees". The government would indeed need to contribute financially to education. But these taxes can be levied accordingly to family income: the more families earn, the more they contribute. The government can also agree that education is not free but that low income families will need to pay a lot less tuition fee, also accordingly to their income. Not charging people for education could become very beneficial for the country and its economy. Everyone can attend, so the gap between rich and poor students decreases as poorer students have more opportunity. The economy also benefits from the increased pool of highly educated labor. An educated workforce attracts employers and foreign investment. Socially, a more educated population should have more choices regarding nutrition, jobs and lifestyle.

Another point is that "a university education is a choice, not a requirement. People who finish college with advanced qualifications are going to earn large salaries and can easily afford to pay back loans". Nobody is obliged to get a major degree, but in a democratic world we need to at least make sure that everyone gets the same possibilities to get a major degree if they choose so, no matter their social background. What if Einstein would have been born in a poor family? Would we have missed all his theories?

Finally, there's a pragmatic argument. “It is simply better for society to have everyone have at least some basic level of education. People with more education tend to earn more in life, and better-educated societies are more innovative, better decision-makers and generally happier. So an educated populace, regardless of citizenship, is in our best interests”.

Hopefully one day governments understand that this is the only way to secure the economic and social future of the country. When the United Stated want to continue to compete internationally it does not just need innovative education strategies, it needs to create a well-educated work force to help grow its economy and compete with large countries like China.
I’m very happy that already a high ranked university like Harvard has understood this need.

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Andy McIntyre

Indeed, do you want your country to be governed by rich people instead of smart people? Do you want your company run by a rich boss instead of a smart boss? The competitive advantage can be easily lost, with all possible negative consequences.

Sources:

www.thecrimson.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. <http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/3/31/harvard-will-be-free-for-families/>.

www.barrypopik.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. <http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/if_you_think_education_is_expensive_try_ignorance/>.

www.guardian.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jan/28/free-university-movement-excluded-learners>.

www.economicshelp.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. <http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/949/economics/should-university-education-be-free/>.

McIntyre, Andy. learninglabtucson.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. <http://learninglabtucson.com/famous-quotes>.

Lifelong learning – an official degree thanks to workplace learning

In my previous blog post you could read that education should be accessible for everybody. There is also a clear link between lower education and poverty. Still comparing with Belgium where the education is almost for free, there is a clear link between low education and poverty. They have a hard time on the labor market and on top of that they have a high risk to be socially excluded. The level of education determines in our society the position someone can take on the social ladder. A lower education leads to a remarkable higher risk of poverty (in Belgium 23,8% versus 6,5% for people with a higher education).

Percentage of risk to poverty: according to education level (population 18+) in Belgium

	Belgium
Lower education	23,8%
Mid-level education	11,2%
Higher education	6,5%

No need to say that this figure is even a lot higher in countries where education is expensive. Maybe we can convince governments to subsidize education and make it accessible for everyone, but even than there are still people who drop out of school. Some reasons might be that their family situation requires them at to help them financially, or they don’t want to go to school anymore, or they have a health problem, … Or also immigrants that come to the country but didn’t get proper education.

Education level of population (15+) in Belgium  - in percentage (2000-2010)

Obtained degree	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008*	2009	2010
Total	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0
primary	26 . 3	26 . 1	25 . 6	24 . 5	24 . 1	22 . 9	21 . 4	20 . 6	20 . 2	19 . 2	19 . 2
High school (12-15)	23 . 2	22 . 7	22 . 1	22 . 5	21 . 4	21 . 1	21 . 6	21 . 3	20 . 5	20 . 2	20 . 2
High school (15-18)	29, 9	30, 0	30, 7	30, 8	31, 4	32, 4	32, 6	33, 4	34, 2	34, 6	33, 2
College (short)	11 . 4	11 . 5	11 . 9	12 . 3	12 . 9	13 . 3	13 . 8	13 . 9
Professionele Bachelor									12 . 3	12 . 5	14 . 0
College (long)	2 . 5	2 . 5	2 . 6	2 . 7	2 . 6	2 . 6	2 . 5	2 . 5
Academic Bachelor & Master in college									4 . 2	4 . 5	3 . 8
University	6 . 7	7 . 1	7 . 1	7 . 2	7 . 6	7 . 7	8 . 1	8 . 2
University:  Academic Bachelor & Master at a university									8 . 6	9 . 1	9 . 5

Note: The education system for college and university changed in 2007, that explains the ‘bridge’ between the figures. As from 2007, the system is comparable to the US system. As you can see, even if education is almost for free, only 1 out of 3 as a higher degree.

So what are the alternatives? What about the ones that dropped out of school without a college or university degree? Lifelong learning and learning at your workplace can be a good solution. What does this mean? In Belgium some companies took the lead on this project.

McDonald’s Belgium, B-Post (government institution) and Carrefour (retail, comparable to Walmart), sat together with some colleges and compared the training that is given on the work floor in these companies, with the classes that are given in the area of Shop Manager (which is the closest to the job and the training on the work floor).

They compared all different classes and training that is given in these companies, and the colleges allocated credits to the training that is given on the work floor (or externally – for example for McDonald’s Belgium, assistant managers and restaurant managers get also some training classes abroad, of which the most known is the Hamburger University).

Next to the credits that are given to the training they have on the work floor, they need to obtain some extra credits to get an official degree. These credits can be obtained through self-study (at home). They only need to go to school for their test (examination). A special degree was created for them – a degree in between High school and College. And once they obtain this degree, they have a ‘short cut’ to a bachelor degree – they get a lot of credits for their degree. This degree is officially recognized by the Belgian government and is a real diploma. At McDonald’s in Belgium, the same will be possible as from September for people who do not have a high school degree.

“Thanks to the training our employees receive on the floor, and some self-study, they will be able to get a high school degree. And once they obtain this and want to continue, they can work hard to get a college or even a university degree. This is another way of giving people the possibility to get an official degree” says Sabine Gekiere, Human Relations Director at McDonald’s Belgium.

Some critics might say that this is too expensive for the employer. Sabine says that “Training people on a day to day base, all year round, is indeed very expensive. But what most employers forget is that there is a clear link between the wellbeing of the employees and the financial results of the company. The happier and the more motivated our employees are, the better the service will be they give to our clients, and the happier the clients will be. And a happy client will come back. They will also use what they have learned in their classes in their job, so they will also to a better job and be proud because they will bring new ideas to the table”. And what if people leave after they get a degree because they can get a better (paid) job? Sabine answers that “Although we see that people are grateful for the opportunities that are given to them and they show it by their loyalty, someone might decide to leave. In this case, his person is one of our best ambassadors because he will never forget the opportunities that were given to him”. I think this example can be followed in many other companies.

“Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.” - Brian Tracy

“The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.” - B.B. King

Indeed, all the knowledge you have, you have for life. All the degrees you have, you have for life. And wisdom will always follow its owner. Nobody can take that away from you. If employers know that their employees might leave to get a better job, they will treat them kind and not exploit them. When employers know that more satisfied employees will have a positive financial impact on their business, they will treat them well. And better educated and trained employees will have them more involved in your business and will help your business to grow. So education is a win-win for everybody.

Sources:

(FOD Economie – Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie: EU-SILC 2009.)

www.armoedebestrijding.be. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013.<http://www.armoedebestrijding.be/cijfers_onderwijs.htm>.

www.knack.be. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013. <http://www.knack.be/nieuws/belgie/bedrijfsopleidingen-binnenkort-beloond-met-diploma/article-4000005763131.htm >.

Tracy, Brian. http://www.goodreads.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22033.Brian_Tracy?auto_login_attempted=true>.

King, B.B. www.goodreads.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013. <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag?id=learning&page=2&utf8=%E2%9C%93>.