Seems as though tuition costs are going up all over the world and if they continue like this we will fall back to a time when only the rich could attend post-secondary school.
1) What are your thoughts?
2) Is this a local South African Issue? What is the bigger issue?
3) What measures should countries take to provide education for their people?
4) What effects will this have on the South African economy and the worlds?
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35883919
I believe that in the situation outlined by the article, post-secondary education is becoming more for the upper class than it is for people of all classes. To explain, the average income of someone in the lower class vs the cost of tuition proves that someone in the lower class could not afford post secondary education, even with bursaries. Also, the fact that tuition for people in the middle class is too high is a sign that post secondary education is becoming more and more for the elite class. I feel that this is happening in more than just South Africa. To explain, a lot of kids in countries all over the world are not attending post-secondary education simply because they cannot afford it, and most of those who can afford it come out of University in a pile of debt that takes years and years to pay off. Measures such as increasing the amount of student bursaries, lowering the cost of tuition, and/or increasing the annual income range for free tuition should be taken in order to help make post-secondary education accessible and affordable to more students. With lowering costs, more students will attend post-secondary education, resulting in a more stable and educated population. Countries with a greater portion of their population attending and graduating from post-secondary schools see faster economic growth than countries with less-educated workers. As a result, many countries provide funding for primary and secondary education in order to improve economic performance.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/education-training-advantages.asp
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35883919
I agree with your opinion and think that your solutions are a great idea! Also, I think that the people of Africa have the right to be enraged because of what the out-of-country students are doing. These students are coming from rich countries to get a degree for a cheaper price. Then, they can return to their country and get payed a high wage because of their education. The habitats of the country then have no room to get into the schools, and still cannot manage to afford it. This is absolutely ridiculous, because I believe that everyone has the potential to be something great and yet, many Africans are being restricted. Maybe we can set certain restrictions so that students from the richer countries cannot attend the schools solely for the price.
DeleteI also agree with the opinion of making post-secondary more affordable. This is a heavily visited topic as we are all looking to attend post-secondary in the upcoming year or soon after for the most part. Even families that have been saving money and students that have part time jobs will struggle with the cost of school. Personally I've been working for the past 2 years and saving 75% of each pay check to go toward my education and my parents set up an RESP for me when I was born. Even still, before scholarships, I only have enough money for first years tuition, books, and residence. I think this speaks a great deal of how expensive our schooling system is. If we look at a country where post-secondary is paid for, we can see some benefits.
DeleteFor example, Iceland. A quote from wikipedia, "In state-run institutions, students only need pay registration fees; there are no tuition fees." The population is about 325,000; that's more than the population of Prince Edward Island, but less than Newfoundland and Labrador. The life expectancy in Iceland is 82 years, beating the Canadian expectancy of 81.5 years. Iceland's GDP is 15.33 billion USD and the GDP per capita is 47,461 USD, slightly less than Canada's 51,958. However they're post-secondary education is paid for by the government even if they go to school in another country. I believe this makes the population happier. Iceland has the third lowest murder rates in the world!
As students in a first world country, we know that education is a world issue. We can tell that it's an issue in our own province and I feel that there needs to be more done about it. I feel everyone deserves an education and it really is a world issue that needs to be addressed. It is unfair for Africans to not afford an education, Europeans to get a free education and North Americans to spend 12 years paying off debt for their education.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_provinces_and_territories_by_population_growth_rate
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/provincial/health/life.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Iceland
I agree with Rianne as well. I think no matter your income everyone should receive equal opportunities. By raising the cost of post secondary education you are taking so much potential away from people who deserve the rights of education. Education should not be seen as a privilege but as a right that every person should have access to.
DeleteI agree in the sense that no matter your income you should receive opportunities, but some do not earn it or will want it. Some take advantage of situations and yes, education should be a right all around the world, but sometimes things being a privilege is a good thing. If absolutely everyone attended university it wouldn't mean as much in some senses.
DeleteI agree that everyone should have an equal opportunity to attend post-secondary education, and that the problem of money is a very large part of why people do not attend it. I also agree with your ideas about how we can change this problem!
DeleteI agree with Rianne's statement. It is extremely difficult for some families to put their children through university. This is hard because we will start to see a cycle of poverty. Many of these children will not be able to gain great paying jobs because the don't have a degree and cannot afford to put their children through university.
DeleteI also agree in the sense that regadrless of your income you should receive opportunities, but as stated above some will not earn it or even want it. Education should be a given right all around the world, no matter your age, gender, race or income. Not allowing those to attend school and receive a good education solely based on one of these reasons is ridiculous. When you den someone the right to their education you are not only taking away the opportunity, but you are taking away the chance that this person could be the one to make a change in the world. Who knows what the right minds will be capable of accomplishing?
DeleteI agree with your ides about how to take action on this problem. adding additional bursaries is a greta way for more students to actively be involved in helping themselves get more money for education. Another idea I don't think was touched on could be raising minimum weigh for students, I think that the students should be more active in getting money for their education. I think this because then you will see who really wants it more, rather than who is the richest and can afford it.
DeleteI believe that in the situation outlined by the article, post-secondary education is becoming more for the upper class than it is for people of all classes. To explain, the average income of someone in the lower class vs the cost of tuition proves that someone in the lower class could not afford post secondary education, even with bursaries. Also, the fact that tuition for people in the middle class is too high is a sign that post secondary education is becoming more and more for the elite class. I feel that this is happening in more than just South Africa. To explain, a lot of kids in countries all over the world are not attending post-secondary education simply because they cannot afford it, and most of those who can afford it come out of University in a pile of debt that takes years and years to pay off. Measures such as increasing the amount of student bursaries, lowering the cost of tuition, and/or increasing the annual income range for free tuition should be taken in order to help make post-secondary education accessible and affordable to more students. With lowering costs, more students will attend post-secondary education, resulting in a more stable and educated population. Countries with a greater portion of their population attending and graduating from post-secondary schools see faster economic growth than countries with less-educated workers. As a result, many countries provide funding for primary and secondary education in order to improve economic performance.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/education-training-advantages.asp
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35883919
Mark this one
ReplyDeleteI think that it's clear that if this continues, we will eventually have less people being able to afford post secondary education overall. I don't think is strictly a local South African issue as you could compare many of these same issues with our own education system here in Canada. One issue that stands out particularly is, as the article called it, "education trap" for the middle class. It seems that if you are not very poor or fairly well off, you are kind of stuck when it comes to paying for education. When you are in the middle, you are not poor enough to be eligible for government funding, but you also don't make nearly enough to be able to pay for your whole education on your own. Personally, I believe the bigger issue to be constantly raising the cost of education. Not only are people's tax dollars supporting those who can't afford education, but institutions are still raising the prices of tuition, rendering it much more difficult for people to find ways to support their education. At this rate, I can definitely see many countries getting to a place where only the exceptionally wealthy can even afford post secondary schooling. One solution I have in mind is making secondary school the same as public school in that you pay for it with your tax dollars. Unfortunately this is a very optimistic idea, and I really don't see them EVER doing that because there is simply too much money to made. As for the South African economy and the growing anger of the people these decisions affect, I think they need to make some serious changes otherwise they will only see the outrage grow stronger and stronger, thus negatively affecting their whole country.
https://www.opencanada.org/features/inequality-explained-hidden-gaps-canadas-education-system/
http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2012/09/26-inequality-education-africa-agbor
I agree with Austin that the raising of university tuition alone is such a large issue, but there is also the cost of books, residence, and so many other things, on top of the way-too expensive tuition. I also agree that being in the middle class would be the most difficult situation and they should be included in any possible future government planning.
DeleteI agree with Austin that the raising of university tuition alone is such a large issue, but there is also the cost of books, residence, and so many other things, on top of the way-too expensive tuition. I also agree that being in the middle class would be the most difficult situation and they should be included in any possible future government planning.
DeleteI agree with both Austin and Sarah/ Simply increasing tuition will not eliminate the cost of books, residence etc. The Education Trap is becoming more and more apparent in the middle class they are often excluded from government planning.
DeleteThat all being said, students that are coming from richer nations for a degree and then returning to their home should not be allowed. The citizens of Africa have a right to be enraged with this procedure. It prevents the right of education to those with even less. As Brittany suggested above, restrictions should be placed on who can attend these schools.
I think post secondary tuition should be lower, but i don't think post secondary should be payed for with taxes. I think taxes are high enough as they are, I wouldn't want to pay for a lot of teenagers to get all these degrees that won't land them a job. If more degrees were useful, then that would be a whole different situation.
DeleteThe education trap in this country is only getting worse. Although the new grant for those with parents who make less than 40,000 a year is very helpful to less fortunate, this leaves a huge middle class grouping who can not afford school. A student whos parents make 50,000 a year is still going to have an extremely difficult time paying for education. The fact that one student gets free tuition and another is expected to pay in full, seems very unfair to many. There needs to be a gradual system of unding instead of all the tax dollars going to a select group.
DeleteI agree with what you saying in that tuition. It's are too high and should be lowered in order for students to be able to get through the their education and get their diploma. That being said, I don't think that the middle class is the worst spot to be in. Though yes they may not be able to pay for their whole education themselves, they can still take the time to apply for the countless amounts of scholarships and bursaries that are given out every year, they also still qualify for government funding, though not as much as someone who is in the lower class, and being the middle class, you can still afford to pay for a portion of your education, the only draw being that you may finish your schooling with large student loans, but if you are successful then the loans will not take long to pay back.
DeleteMark this one... University is definitely becoming something that privileged people go to. Not just in South Africa, like in this article, but in Canada and the United States as well. I am sure around the world it is no different. In Canada alone, tuition has increased three times as much since 1990. Reading a few articles on how much tuition and post secondary prices have increased is insane. Teenagers do not have close to the money they need to pay for it, let alone one year, and neither do most of our parents. I am not saying that post secondary school should be free, there are issues with that, but lowering the price for students will help with having less stress in high school and University. Post secondary schools have tried to find ways to help students, with bursaries, contests, scholarships, and OSAP. Students are finally rewarded with money for good grades and community service. Even with these helpful tidbits, post-secondary is still getting more expensive because of our economy. This issue is happening all over the world, in 35 countries more than 75% of adolescents have not attended post secondary school. In the future, we need this generation to attend post secondary, because if we don't there won't be enough in the working class to support the retired generation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/university-tuition-rising-to-record-levels-in-canada-1.1699103
http://www.education-inequalities.org
I agree that University is an institution only privileged people will be able to afford soon. Some people can't even go to college because they can't afford it. It's alarming how places all over the world money is an issue when considering post-secondary options. I don't agree either that post-secondary school should be free but it would be much better if prices were lowered
DeleteI disagree with the statement that University is only for privileged people. I believe is used to be but with the new government plan in place to fund students who's parents make an income of less than $50,000 University can be opened up to non-privledged kids.
DeleteMark this one please:
ReplyDeleteI also agree that university and other post-secondary education is becoming more for the elite class, and less for everyone. This issue isn't just happening in South Africa, it happens all over the world, even here in Canada. I believe countries could help make post-secondary education more affordable by lowering prices, or by providing free education to students with a certain income or lower. The problem with post-secondary education is that even with all the things available to students to help them pay for their education, they have to go in to years and years of student debt. http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-higher-education
Mark this one please:
ReplyDeleteI believe that the struggle over education in south Africa is a very important world issue. They are slanting educational opportunities and catering to the rich. As a grade twelve student who is planning for university I can understand the struggle with money, especially as the bills for tuition, residence and applications begin to roll in. However, as I live in Canada there are more options and opportunities for financial aid. While this article and the instances it is addressing pertain specifically to south Africa it is not just a local issue. It hints at the division in social classes all over the world. And also begs the question do post secondary schools cater to the rich. The article compares the educational systems of south Africa vs England and seems to praise the opportunities given by the government to ensure that there is less inequality in England the mere price of schooling there could be considered as catering to the rich. Even with all the financial aid they discuss, it is still a lot of money along with much debt for those who are not as well off as other students. This is an issue all over the world, and the topic of free education is one that is constantly battled over. An excerpt from an article on the improvements that should be made to the American educational system says: "In order to repair this broken system, the United States must confront the fact that inequality continues to plague our public schools. One of the most harmful manifestations of this is that local school district funding is allocated in a way that hurts poor and minority students. A study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found that educational funding is being allocated on the basis of "staff allocations, program-specific formulae, squeaky-wheel politics, property wealth, and any number of other factors that have little to do with the needs of students." so this inequality is being seen everywhere. The article goes on to explain that the way funds are allocated to different schools and the placement of teachers along with their salary is not equal and not efficient. Although, they address this issue in reference to public elementary and high schools this misuse of funding causes a flawed basis for the educational system. And this is where countries should begin. If they begin to distribute funds equally they may find more room to find post secondary schools thus ensuring they cost less. Also, more programs like osap should be put into place, and scholarships should be properly taken advantage of in each country. If equal opportunities for education are pursued in south Africa and other countries it might call for higher taxation to lower the actual costs of universities and could shake up the economy.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/report/2008/06/10/4567/ensuring-equal-opportunity-in-public-education/
Mark this one :
ReplyDeleteI believe that what is being argued is something that definitely needed to be brought to attention; however, the way the people went about expressing themselves, was very inhumane. I can understand why they did it- be cause they probably wouldn’t have been heard, but I am sure there are other ways to get their point across. I don’t believe this is only relatable the for the people in Africa in spite of that, Africa as a continent isn’t the most developed; however, I believe better education leads to a better economy. As a Canadian in grade 12 looking to save up for post secondary, I know how difficult it might be for these people to do this. Thankfully for me, living in Canada my government has given me access to things like OSAP, and now the new law of free tuition for low income families. Although for some people OSAP and some laws may not help as much as it might for others but I do believe we have the opportunities unlike most in Africa to get an education, if you try hard enough for it. For some African’s they do not have the tools to succeed and this starts with their government, as soon as they allow more students into university more issues in their economy will disappear. However, if this issue doesn’t get resolved in either country there will be a huge decline in students attending Post secondary.
This issue is not just an issue being faced in Africa, people face it here in Canada. I think the reason it is seen so much more in Africa is because of the continuous aid our country is able to provide for us to get the education needed to keep our economy running. 61 years ago the right to education was proclaimed by The Universal Declaration of Human Rights but since then Africa has still not been able to get their education standards to where it needs to be. I believe the one way to end this crisis in Africa would be to join education systems with other countries like Canada, or United States. I believe the best resolution to this issue in Africa and other undeveloped countries is to perhaps have rich countries like North America give educational donors as Africa has been constantly trying to increase their education rates by investing over 20% of the national budget on education.
I know this may not be the most popular decision as people here are still not getting the education they expect as a Canadian citizen but, from my personal experience, if you either invest a lot of time into getting extremely high grades, or having a part-time job offering full time hours, all through high school, most of your education can get paid for. I believe that some Canadian are sometimes so lazy because everything is handed to them on a silver platter that they don’t try hard while others who do get the easy road. For example: a close friend worked so hard in school and in her sports, she managed to get 34,000 dollars worth of scholarships and bursaries for her entire 4 years of university. Now if you put into perspective that, that money divided by 4 years is tuition to school and you stay at home for school instead of staying right on campus you could pay for your education with no problems at all.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2009/12/07-africa-education-gartner
Mark this one:
ReplyDeleteI think that post-secondary education is becoming for more common and we can see that with the many countries that give students loans or just pay for it with tax money. However I do think that post-secondary should only be for those who can afford it.
I believe this because every country that gives out student loans in an attempt to make university more accessible will make it for more expensive and ruin more lives with debt then they will help with education. This is because if the students are paying for university with loans then the university can increase tuition as high as they want. If people had to use their own money then tuition prices would fall because not as many people would enroll and the university would have to drop prices to get more students. As it is though the university can have tuition as high as they want and students will pay it because they are using the government’s money.
As for what measures a nation should take to educate their people, I think a high school education is more than enough to do most jobs in a developing nation. And in a 1st world country if the government stopped handing out money to people so they can get a degree in “medieval Latin poetry” and university was instead for people who wanted to study math, science or engineering then tuition rates would fall to a stable level and there would be enough educated people to work the jobs that need them.
http://fee.org/articles/student-loan-subsidies-cause-almost-all-of-the-increase-in-tuition/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-09/why-is-college-tuition-rising-blame-student-loans-fed-says
MARK THIS ONE: The problems outlined in this article detail the struggling university students of South Africa who can not afford to continue or even enter their educationally program their choice. This issue may be may be a strong issue in South Africa, but it is also something that is a struggle for many households right here in our community. As of June 2015, 9.4% of the population of Canada lives below the poverty line, deemed “lower class” these students who can't afford school may be a powerful influence to the business world one day, or could have the cure for cancer locked away in their brains without knowing it, but due. To the fact that they can’t afford the education, this locked potential may never come to be. With the ever growing population of Canada, so too is the number of students who attend universities and colleges across the country. Since the year 22 the number of full time undergraduate students has increased by 44%. With the number of students increasing, you will also find that the cost to attend these schools increases along with it, trying to get as many students as they can in order to get more money. Tuition costs since 1991 have nearly tripled, accounting for inflation, tuition in 1990-91 cost roughly $2,243 and are predicted to reach $6,842 for 2016-17. Statistics Canada ran a survey in which they found that students were paying 5% more in their current year of education than the year before. Universities are constantly raise tuition and living costs in order to try and make more money any way they can, but raising the cost only deters students who can't afford and, making them not want to consider certain schools because they can’t afford it. If universities were to lower their cost of tuitions, they would see a vast increase in the number of people who want to attend university, while still making a large amount of money, also not causing problems and riots between universities.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.indexmundi.com/canada/population_below_poverty_line.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/university-tuition-rising-to-record-levels-in-canada-1.1699103
Mark This One:
ReplyDeletePersonally, I do believe that post-secondary schooling is slowly only becoming available to the upper class. It is unfortunate that everyone cannot attend post-secondary just because of the cost. It is also sad to see the families who have multiple children and cannot afford to send all of their kids to college/university. I think that post-secondary schooling should be available at a much lower cost so that it gives everyone equal opportunities to achieve their goals, without having to worry about being in debt. Although post-secondary education is not free in Canada, in many other countries it is. Over 30 countries around the world have fully public post-secondary education, including Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Iran, Sweden and Morocco. I don’t think that this is just a local problem in South Africa. Many people around the world are unable to attend post-secondary education and there people are not just in developing countries but also in developed. Unfortunately in developing countries, these people who are unable to attend this schooling end up in poverty. It seems that these developing countries are going backwards, they are becoming larger but are unable to educate their citizens. As is said in the article, South Africa is now one of the most unequal countries in the world and has a high and growing level of unemployment. I know it is not ideal but I personally there should be some higher taxes to help pay for post-secondary education. Many European countries are already doing this and it seems to be working positively for them. Because many people are not getting the post-secondary education, there will be a higher population in poverty as I said earlier. Not just South Africa will face these problems but many countries around the world will also feel the consequences. There will also not be enough people to take jobs and there may be shortages of people such as doctors. Overall I think that post-secondary education should be available for everyone but we should still have to work for it. By this I mean that there should still be certain requirements (grades) to get into these programs and students should still be working just as hard.
http://rabble.ca/news/2014/03/free-post-secondary-education-canada-its-not-so-radical
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35883919
It is time that Barrie get a University. The biggest cost of post-secondary education is living away from home.
ReplyDeleteHello Everybody,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Mrs Sharon Sim. I live in Singapore and i am a happy woman today? and i told my self that any lender that rescue my family from our poor situation, i will refer any person that is looking for loan to him, he gave me happiness to me and my family, i was in need of a loan of S$250,000.00 to start my life all over as i am a single mother with 3 kids I met this honest and GOD fearing man loan lender that help me with a loan of S$250,000.00 SG. Dollar, he is a GOD fearing man, if you are in need of loan and you will pay back the loan please contact him tell him that is Mrs Sharon, that refer you to him. contact Dr Purva Pius,via email:(urgentloan22@gmail.com) Thank you.
BORROWERS APPLICATION DETAILS
1. Name Of Applicant in Full:……..
2. Telephone Numbers:……….
3. Address and Location:…….
4. Amount in request………..
5. Repayment Period:………..
6. Purpose Of Loan………….
7. country…………………
8. phone…………………..
9. occupation………………
10.age/sex…………………
11.Monthly Income…………..
12.Email……………..
Regards.
Managements
Email Kindly Contact: urgentloan22@gmail.com
Hello Everybody,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Mrs Sharon Sim. I live in Singapore and i am a happy woman today? and i told my self that any lender that rescue my family from our poor situation, i will refer any person that is looking for loan to him, he gave me happiness to me and my family, i was in need of a loan of S$250,000.00 to start my life all over as i am a single mother with 3 kids I met this honest and GOD fearing man loan lender that help me with a loan of S$250,000.00 SG. Dollar, he is a GOD fearing man, if you are in need of loan and you will pay back the loan please contact him tell him that is Mrs Sharon, that refer you to him. contact Dr Purva Pius,via email:(urgentloan22@gmail.com) Thank you.
BORROWERS APPLICATION DETAILS
1. Name Of Applicant in Full:……..
2. Telephone Numbers:……….
3. Address and Location:…….
4. Amount in request………..
5. Repayment Period:………..
6. Purpose Of Loan………….
7. country…………………
8. phone…………………..
9. occupation………………
10.age/sex…………………
11.Monthly Income…………..
12.Email……………..
Regards.
Managements
Email Kindly Contact: urgentloan22@gmail.com
Hello Everybody,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Mrs Sharon Sim. I live in Singapore and i am a happy woman today? and i told my self that any lender that rescue my family from our poor situation, i will refer any person that is looking for loan to him, he gave me happiness to me and my family, i was in need of a loan of S$250,000.00 to start my life all over as i am a single mother with 3 kids I met this honest and GOD fearing man loan lender that help me with a loan of S$250,000.00 SG. Dollar, he is a GOD fearing man, if you are in need of loan and you will pay back the loan please contact him tell him that is Mrs Sharon, that refer you to him. contact Dr Purva Pius,via email:(urgentloan22@gmail.com) Thank you.
BORROWERS APPLICATION DETAILS
1. Name Of Applicant in Full:……..
2. Telephone Numbers:……….
3. Address and Location:…….
4. Amount in request………..
5. Repayment Period:………..
6. Purpose Of Loan………….
7. country…………………
8. phone…………………..
9. occupation………………
10.age/sex…………………
11.Monthly Income…………..
12.Email……………..
Regards.
Managements
Email Kindly Contact: urgentloan22@gmail.com