Economic justice

Wednesday, 7 October 2015 00:00 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

This week thousands of students who sat for the Advanced Level exam received their Z-scores along with varying levels of happiness. Many of them would now be looking for alternative avenues for higher education as they would not be eligible for public universities. They would join millions of other students in the past and future that would have faced the challenge of paying for quality education to finance their future.  

Recent reforms and entrepreneurial efforts around the world and to a lesser extent in Sri Lanka may be viewed as part of the wider movement to democratise higher education and make it more socially flexible. There are by now many ways to enter higher education – not just by enrolling in a four-year public university, but via continuing education, vocational-technical colleges, and community colleges; and there are more ways to deliver higher education – including online, distance, virtual, and other electronic means. 

There are also multiple ways to finance higher education – through loans, grants, scholarships, fellowships, and work-study programs. There are ever-more enhancements to higher education – such as study-abroad, cooperative learning, service-learning, and internships – and more ways to build ties across colleges and universities – such as inter-institutional partnerships, student and faculty exchange programs, and credit-transfer agreements.

Driving many of these changes is the hope – and need – to expand citizen access to higher education as the next big step in enlarging the democratic social contract. As a developing nation Sri Lanka needs expanded higher education driven by the reality that entry into most professional careers in medicine, law, education, accounting, science, engineering, and beyond is now not possible without several years of advanced higher education. Beyond that, ever more companies are requiring certification or other evidence of post-secondary education for access into many vocational fields ranging from cosmetology to culinary arts. Policymakers, employers, and civic leaders alike tout the benefits of post-secondary education for virtually everyone.

Therefore policymakers and educational leaders need to devise more innovative ways to broaden access while lowering costs. If the demand for higher education continues to greatly exceed supply, the current, unsustainable price and cost structure will remain in place. Taxpayer funding for public universities alone is unlikely to be enough. Additional – or alternative – steps would increase student choice and the provision of alternative higher educational services. Examples might include unbundling educational services, so that students only pay for what they are receiving. In addition, increased efforts could be made to facilitate the portability of course credits across institutions. And online course offerings could be expanded and structured so that they lead to accredited, high quality degrees recognized by the job market. 

In Sri Lanka many parents have to face the irony of paying taxes that are used to fund public universities their children will not attend. Having to make additional payments to private higher education institutions demands the Government to concentrate on ensuring their quality and affordability, Sri Lanka cannot develop into a knowledge economy or deal with its rapidly ageing population without an effective bridge between youth and higher education. Policies to promote easy to access, economic and effective higher education is essential to delivering political, social, and economic justice.

COMMENTS