Free education for those who work for it

I REFER to the letter “When free can be quite costly” ( The Star, Jan 25). While I agree with the writer about the disadvantages of free education, I would like to say that when free education is implemented with the proper checks and balances, it can be extremely beneficial to both the students and the nation.

Let us take Germany as an example. It is a European country that implements free education. Germany excels in talent retention and is even capable of pulling in talent from other European countries.

Germany also has an enormous talent pool and is known for its expertise in key fields such as engineering.

If Malaysia were to implement free tertiary education, I’m sure we can resolve the “brain drain” phenomenon.

More importantly, we should introduce a meritocracy system where there is a set baseline that students must achieve before they are given free tertiary education. In this way, we can ensure that the system is not burdened by lazy and unmotivated students.

We must also understand that while taxation in countries like Denmark is pretty high, their standard of living is equally high.

Their people pay the high taxes because they understand what it is used for, courtesy of everyone being reasonably educated.

It is my opinion that education should not be turned into a business.