Is free education up to tertiary level feasible in Malaysia?

outgoing South African president Jacob Zuma announced free education for the poor and working-class students in the country. The announcement came as the National Treasury and economists cautioned that the populist move would jeopardise the country’s finances.

A few months before Zuma’s move, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sanctioned free education for state colleges and universities in the country, despite similar warnings from economic advisers.

Calls for free education have also been growing in Malaysia. Public schools provide free primary and secondary education.

However, many parties are demanding this privilege be extended to tertiary levels.

But, some facts about free education have not been factored into the equation.

anything free is a fantasy. Free education appears to be free because the taxpayers shoulder the financial burden of the students.

In Nordic and Scandinavian countries, where free education is provided from preschool to tertiary levels, the tax rates consume almost half of taxpayers’ salaries.

For example, Denmark, which provides free education, free healthcare and other free benefits, has the highest tax rates in the world. In Finland, free education comes with a 24 per cent Goods and Services Tax rate. Free education will cause a similar tax hike for our taxpayers. Are they willing to pay for it?

countries that have implemented free education face drawbacks.

Take the world’s happiest country, Denmark, for instance. Besides enjoying free tuition, Danish students are also granted a monthly allowance for living expenses.

In return, students have grown complacent and are idling away as “eternity students”. Danish students are losing the sense of urgency to graduate and contribute to the workforce. They even have the audacity to skip exams by taking sick leave.

In 2015, Denmark passed the Study Progress Reform to compel universities to urge their students to graduate on time. Failure to do so will cause the universities to lose their funding.

the free education policy will not necessarily translate into a fairer education system. In Brazil, federal universities are subsidised to deliver free education. The initial response was overwhelming. From 2002 to 2012, the number of students attending college in Brazil doubled to seven million. But, the majority of students who are accepted into the free government universities are predominantly middleclass or wealthy students, who could pay for their education.

Such partiality also defeats the intention of free education.

Free education is not all bane with no boon.

Neither am I suggesting that implementing a free education system is bound to fail. But, the real challenge is the feasibility of the free education system in our country.

DHESEGAAN BALA KRISHNAN Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur