Dircursive Composition

Discuss the proposal to increase University course fees by 50% during the next academic year, given the current economic crisis.

Joaquim Freitas, n 44235

Money it's a crime Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie Money so they say Is the root of all evil today Money (Pink Floyd)

Money, the only thing that can make the world spin faster. Although sometimes it shouldn't be the only priority. But what if we had to make even more sacrifices due to the economic recession? What if education becomes too expensive? What if the university course fees would increase by 50% during the next year, as a way to fight the economic recession? Would it be tolerable? Would it be fair? First of all, we have to acknowledge that if the course fees would increase by 50% it would be generated 1.5 times more money than before with the same ammount of students, that is to say that every 2 students would pay enough to maintain 3 students before the raise of the fees. And that means that it would exist enough money to give better conditions and equipments to both students and professors. It's almost essential that universities can be restructured and improved to ensure better conditions for teaching and learning. Nowadays, with the huge debts that universities already have, it becomes very difficult to continuously improve their conditions, worrying about students and teachers. Besides, we can never forget that with more money it's possible to open many new courses that can open a lot of doors to the students. Universities have that responsability, not only to teach them but also to provide employment opportunities for their students. For instance, with more courses, more students would interested in joining the university in the following years, leading to the fees fall back to the standard value. Furthermore, we must not forget that during difficult times, those who benefit should contribute. So it is fair to ask for a certain period of time, that sacrifices are made to make it possible to continue to provide a decent college education for all, therefore, if it is needed to increase tuition fees in order to improve teaching conditions, and perhaps even help overcome the crisis,it is fully justifiable and the logical thing to do.

However, we must not forget that this measure may lead to the waiver of many students for not having enough money to pay their courses in college. And how can we choose between a nonguaranteed aid for the crisis, in detriment to future hypotheses for these youths? Mustn't we always defend the right to the education no matter how hard it is? Are we not supposed to believe that those who are now studying, in the future, will be able to find more and better solutions for our livelihood? Thus, if we choose not to believe in them, how can we hope for a better future? That is to say that without degrees we won't have qualified workers that can assure this country's stability. We need to be able to subsist and, at the same time, not to give up in the education field. And if we have to give up on something, at least let's choose something that does not threatens our future. And above all things, we must never forget that education is a right, not a privilege. We cannot let education, once again, be an elitist preciousness that distinguishes people, not for their intellectual capacity but by their monetary capacity. We evolved. We decided to prefer equality instead of the randomness of opportunities. After all, and I quote from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 26: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. If we choose to raise the fees, being totally aware of the impossibility to keep the education acessible to all on the basis of merit aren't we commiting a crime? Is it the only option? Frankly, there must exist many other options to exhaust before we have to resort to a threat to the future of least economically capable students. Therefore, if we compare the pros and cons, we realize that it is unthinkable to risk the future of a substantial amount of college students, so that others could have better conditions. We would be favoring social classes and creating a more unfair and marginalizing society. As a college student, I am strongly opposed to the raise of university fees. Not only because of the discrimination but also because, as a human being, I believe people have the right to fight for their own dreams, and that should never be denied to them. In conclusion, taking into account all the arguments mentioned above, would not be fair to raise college fees by 50% and it should be sought another solution.

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you. Maya Angelou (Poetess)