Education Turns Into Lucrative Business

When Maria Montessori established Montessori Education System, it was a method to ensure the access of kids from poor family to quality education. However, today Montessori Education is accessible only to the kids from rich families. Can a boy from Musahar community become a doctor even if he is extremely talented? It is obvious that poor and lower middle class cannot afford medical education. Education has now become a business venture. It is so expensive that only people from privileged background can actually have access to quality education.  Well, there are community colleges and universities, where education is cheaper. If one an average student but want to get higher education, s/he can you get a spot in community colleges and universities? 

Better knowledge and better skills will pay one more. One gets better knowledge and better skills only through education and learning. In the job market, people with higher degrees are always in demand. Bill Gates is reported to have said that he is not a graduate but Harvard Graduates work for him. If one wants to move up the corporate ladder, the only option s/he has is to get better education. However, education has become a costly affair in the United States where average cost for MBA degree is $60 thousands per year. It is a lot of money and everyone cannot afford that. 

Expensive education 

In Nepal, one has to spend Rs. 300,000-6000,000 per year for MBA, multiply the cost by 2 and then add other expenses such as education materials, admission cost, etc. One will need over Rs. One million to get an MBA degree. Cost of MBBS is even higher. One needs to spend 40-60 lakhs per year. By the time you get your MBBS degree, you will be sending over 3 corers. Formal education is very important to become successful in one's career. Let's say you want to build a career in writing and you are also very good at writing. Would you be hired by a high paying company if you are not at graduate? Or would you be hired by big media house if you do not have formal education and a degree in language and literature?

 Big brands and companies do not trust you if you do not have a degree in relevant field. If you are an MBA and if you apply as a marketer, you have high chance of being hired compared to when you are experienced marketer but no formal degree. Sadly, getting a degree is becoming less viable for a lot of people. Education is becoming very expensive. Parents can no longer afford to pay tuition fees for their wards, the students, on the other hand cannot afford to cover their educational expenses even when they try to earn money by working in spare time.

Therefore, in many countries, there is less attraction for higher education due to the high cost of education in colleges and universities.  Education is very important for personal and professional development, a person can earn well and improve his lifestyle only when he is properly educated, yet because of the cost involved, very few people go to college and university. That's why there is a great demand for skilled based training. Instead of going to college for 4 years people prefer to enrol for 6-8 weeks course and then start working on the chosen niche. 

Investment 

One might get an education loan to pay the tuition fee but the job market is very competitive and there is no surety that you will get a high paying job once you compete your education, if you cannot generate income, your outstanding loan will continue to grow and there will be a day when you will be in hot waters for not paying the loan. The first investment you need to make is in your education and training, so that you can build knowledge, skills, and expertise. If you have rich parents who can send you to the best school and college, you are extremely lucky. However, even if your parents cannot pay for your education, you should not take excuse for not being able to study because of lack of money. 

There are a lot of ways to get a degree; one can try online college or open universities, which are cheaper than regular colleges and universities. This is the reason why online education evolved because it is comparatively cheaper. If that is also not available you can take short term courses based on your interest and income opportunities. If you invest in education, you are actually investing in yourself, when you are investing in yourself, you will get return on your investment in the form of employment. When you begin to earn, you can think about more investment opportunities. 

(Ghimire is a freelancer.)