Free education – a fallacy?

Free education is a fallacy. One of the basic principles of economics is that there is no free lunch. Somebody has to pay for it, and it becomes a taxpayer’s burden, to foot the bill.

When C.W.W. Kannangara introduced the free education system in 1945, he did not know the chaos it would create. No wonder, he lost his seat 2 years later. Free education in Sri Lanka has gone from bad to worse. And now with the muddle of the Z- score, things are getting more complicated. Before 1945, education was imparted to students, through private and missionary schools. For example we could take Ladies College, Colombo and Trinity College, Kandy. These schools had a vision and a mission to educate the young. They charge fees only to cover up the over head expenses, like paying teachers or maintaining buildings. They do not run their schools as a business venture, or for profit, as some international schools do.

This does not mean that government schools are impotent. There are excellent state run schools, like Royal Cllege or Ananda College. But once again, these are few and far between… Most of the state run schools are governed by the Provincial Councils of that particular district. Where education is concerned, the Provincial Councils have failed. The question papers they publish for term examinations are incorrect and inconsistent. Most teachers in state run schools do not cover the syllabus and students are forced to go for tuition. Thus they have to pay for their education.

The answer to all these problems is to allow more and more private schools to operate along with government schools. All state run schools should also charge fees from the rich and only the very poor should be spared tuition fees. This would be just and fair by everybody.