You should spend around 40 minutes on this task.
Today, in order to study at university, students are required to pay expensive tuition fees. Not all students can afford it. So some people think that university education should be free for everyone. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.
Write at least 250 words.

MODEL ANSWER:

It is a fact that fees for higher education are expensive and not affordable to all.For this reason, some believe that tertiary education should be made free for all, regardless of their background. I think offering everyone free university education would be an unwise idea and, therefore, it should offered only to certain individuals.

Firstly, free university education for everyone would put a tremendous financial strain on a nation. If university education is made free, universities would rely completely on the state for funding. Doing this means outsourcing funds from other much needed sectors, such as the health and transport, in order to allocate money to this level of education. For the majority of countries, particularly the developing countries, this would not be a financially challenging situation.

The next major point to be considered is that offering free tertiary education to all would tempt many people to enter university whether they are interested or not. In other words, some young people would opt for doing a degree to which they would only halfheartedly apply themselves which would not only be a waste of a country’s economic resources but also a waste of its human resources.

The best option would be to offer some free places to students from poor financial backgrounds and to give scholarships to exceptional students. This would encourage such students to strive harder and excel in their academics. As a result, every society would benefit by getting the right people trained and the nation’s financial resources would hardly get wasted.

In conclusion, I tend to believe that free tertiary education is not feasible for most countries. Instead, offering free places to students who have limited financial means and easing tuition fees for the outstanding ones are better alternatives.