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SHOULD EDUCATION BE FREE?
Prepared by:
Hasbullah Faudzi
(UTAM Crew)
9th May 2015
QUESTIONS
Is education
really free?
Who is paying
the price for
free
education?
What should
the role of the
government
be in
education?
The assumption of
‘free’ education:
• Because we are not
paying it directly
• We are paying it
through taxation
• Therefore, the
government are
providing it
What is the current
problem of public
provision?
• Quality of our
Education (Value for
money)
• However, we need to
understand the
opportunity issue
Education: Opportunity and Quality
• “It is otherwise with the common people. They
have little time to spare for education….As soon
as they are able to work, they must apply to
some trade, by which they can earn their
subsistence…..their labour is both so constant
and so severe, that it leaves them little leisure
and less inclination to apply to, or even think of
anything else…… For a small expense (to educate
people to read, write and count), the public can
facilitate…”
(Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nation, Book V, Ch.1)
• “But access to good education depends
increasingly on the income, wealth and
education of one’s parents…..The poor can’t
afford high-quality private primary and
secondary schools, and they can’t afford to
live in the rich suburbs that provide highquality public education..”
(Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality)
Case of Opportunity:
• Income is related to choices
• There are trade-off based on the budget (income,
wealth) that they have
• When income is increased, the choices will be
increased
• When income is low, the choices will be decreased
• Between subsistence and education, which one should
be prioritized?
• This is common people’s problem: Lack of Choices
• Inequality of opportunity (income and asset) will result
to inequality of output
Figure 1: Trade-off between education and other goods
Share of purchasing power components by income class
Reference:
• Malaysia Human Development Report 2013
GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND QUALITY
Government expenditure on education,
total (% of government expenditure)
COUNTRIES**
2010
2011
2012
Malaysia*
18.4
21.0
15.63
Singapore
17.7
19.5
20.6
Japan
9.5
9.7
9.5
12.27
12.26
Finland
Note:
• *Quick Facts 2014, Malaysia Educational Statistics, MOE
• **World Bank Data
• The selected countries (except Malaysia) is based on their high ranking in TIMSS report
QUALITY OF EDUCATION:
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE?
• The quality of education is not depend on either it is public or
private
• The substance of Education depends on ‘fashion’
• It depends on the orientation of education as well as the
human development in educational institution
• Therefore, the quality of education should be developed base
on:
– Curiosity of the students (Innovation)
– Sentiments of the students (Social relation)
• What is our educational paradigm?
– Employee paradigm (Worker or Servant)
– Entrepreneur paradigm (Innovator)
DOES EDUCATION FREE?
• No, someone is paying for that
• There is no free lunch!
• There are someone who are paying for that:
– Benevolence
– Self-Interest
• Should we treat education as:
– Private good (Vertical issue due to inequality of opportunity), or
– Public good (Top to Bottom issue), or
– Communal good?
• Financing is related to quality, that means we should not
ignore the discussion of autonomy in our educational
institution
Education is society’s responsibility!
•
•
•
•
Education should be treated as communal good
The idea of “Direct Redistribution”
However, there must be an institution that should be developed
This concept could be traced back through the concept of Waqf (Islamic
Law), Trust (English Law), Fideicommissum (Roman Law)
• Waqf: The detention of the corpus from the ownership of any person
and the gift of its income or usufruct either presently or in the future, to
some charitable purpose… While ownership of the waqf property was
thereby relinquished by the founder, it was not acquired by any other
person; rather, it was "'arrested' " or 'detained’.
(Monica M. Gaudiosi, 1988)
• In history, Waqf-State relations have remained difficult… the state
often violated the property rights of waqf..
(Murat Cizakca, 2011)
Function of the government
Function of the society
• Provide the facilities and
infrastructure (Huge amount
of capital)
• Basic maintenance as well as
the emoluments
• However, in term of
emoluments, should it be
based on full-public funded,
or partial-public funded?
• Focus on decentralization to
give more autonomy to the
local community in
determining their direction
• Not merely focus on
financing
• How could the parents and
local community involve in
school objectives and
activities? (Participatory
society)
• The idea is to create
harmony between have and
have not
THANK YOU