JNU Crisis: Affordable Education Is an Investment, Not a Favour

Here’s how India will benefit from educating all its young people.

But the truth is that affordable education is a human right, not a donation.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj, Purnendu Pritam

JNU is in turmoil. So are other cities across the country. From Dehradun to Mumbai, students are struggling to ensure that education is available to all. In a nation with a per capita income of only Rs 10,000 a month, protesting students want to ensure that education remains a right and not a luxury.

They demand that the government retain the current subsidy. But those opposing this subsidy have lots of things to say: they say that giving subsidies increases government expenditure; that people misuse the subsidies, students indulge in politics
more than the studies, and so on and so forth.

But the truth is that affordable education is a human right, not a donation. Education should be considered an investment in the economy. Amartya Sen & John Dreze in their book, An Uncertain Glory: India & Its Contradictions emphasised on the impact of education of social growth.

Education is a gateway to employment and economic growth. It builds our political opinions and keeps us informed of our legal rights.

Benefits of Affordable Education

A study in done in Bangladesh proves the advantages of afforable education. Professor Muktdair Al Mukeet from the Business Administration Department at Dhaka University from 1995 to 2009, did a comparison between expenditure on education and economic growth.

He wrote a paper, ‘Public Expenditure on Education & Economic Growth: the Case of Bangladesh’. The paper says: If the government spends 1 percent more on education, it increases the per capita GDP by 0.34 percent. 

This extra spending includes budget allocation infrastructure and subsidy distribution.
Similar research has been done in West African countries as well. All research has confirmed that education and economic growth are directly proportional.

Number of Students Opting for Higher Education Is Falling

The JNU stand-off has raised more questions about subsidies for higher education.
Unfortunately, the number of students enrolling for higher education is falling. Human Resource Development Ministry's 2017-2018 'Akhil Bharatiya Uchch Shiksha' survey shows only 26 percent of indians enroll into universities

• 79.2 percent of these enroll for undergraduate courses
• And 11.2 percent enroll for postgraduate courses
• The survey also shows a decrease in enrollment after the undergraduate level

Which means students quit studies before higher studies. The other side of the coin is that the government spends less on education. In the union budget for 2019-2020, allocation on education was a mere 3 percent and an allocation on higher studies was just 1 percent.

This results in a lack of resources in the universities. Central universities get approximately a 65 percent grant from UGC while state universities have to make do with only 35 percent although the admissions at state universities are much higher that those in central universities.

Many Countries Provide Free Education

A number of countries provide their citizens with free or affordable higher education.

1. Public and private colleges in Sweden do not have tuition fees. 68 percent of the youth in Sweden studies in universities. The Swedish government spends, on average, more than $20,000 per student.
2. Denmark spends 0.6 percent of its GDP on college students' subsidies.
3. Finland provides grants and scholarships to its students so that they can bear other expenses too.
4. Ireland has been providing tuition fees to its undergraduate students since 1995.
5. The Icelandic government spends, on average, $10,419 on every student and approximately 77 percent youth studies at universities.
6. The Norwegian government spends 1.3 percent of its GDP on college subsidies.

But I guess our problem here in India is that students availing of the subsidy 'indulge in politics'... 'Shut up and study if you are getting a subsidy'. This is because politics and education are often seen as unrelated. But the entire purpose of education is that it empowers you to raise your voice, to raise questions and also find the answers – and most importantly, to fight for your rights.