Introduction
Education should be a right not a privilege. This argument stems from a basic understanding of a right. If something is a right, then its removal should cause negative consequences. However, if people treat it as a privilege, then its negation should cause neutral repercussions. The removal of education can cause severe consequences, so this illustrates that education ought to be a right.
Arguments
The United Nations recognizes education as a basic right as outlined in its charter. It argues that every child is entitled to free basic or fundamental education in Article 26. Many believe that this will contribute towards the betterment of society.
Education is required to foster societal development; if it is made into a privilege, then societies will not prosper. Such an approach will undermine economic, social and political development in the nation.
Education is an avenue for teaching young people about the importance of discipline, respect for authority and rules. These things can be taught easily when education is a right. However, if it is a privilege, then the prerogative will be on parents and guardians, yet some of them may not do this very well.
Education also facilitates the detection of dangerous situations like abuse and neglect in homes. It is imperative to make schooling a right in order to address these concerns.
Making education a right would cause adults to invest in their future professionals. Members of society require the services of doctors, lawyers, mechanics, and electricians. When schooling is a right, society would contribute towards the creation of such important members of society, so it should be treated as such.
Lastly, education creates an intelligent society that is highly democratic. In fact, former dictators (like Hitler) have tried to undermine education so as to oppress their followers. If education is turned into a privilege, then the democratic principles that this country boasts about would be severely undermined.
Impact of rights on education
Students’ rights play a tremendous role in education because it is their needs that ought to be protected through schooling. Concerns about their ability to control or safeguard their lives have caused most stakeholders to advocate for compulsory schooling. Family rights also come into play because some households lack the financial capability of paying for their children’s education.
This means that an external structure ought to come into place in order to safeguard their rights. Lastly, societal rights contribute to education because one must consider the developmental and social needs of society. These can only be accommodated if all of society has access to at least a basic form of schooling.
The role of choice
Choice should come into play when free education starts to become ineffective or when parents need to safeguard their children against the pitfalls of the public system. Sometimes making education a right can lead to resource shortages, hence poor educational outcomes (Herbst, 2006). Parents should have the choice of taking their children to private schools if this is the case.
Sometimes parents may wish to teach their children certain values or focus on certain areas of specialty; this is where charter schools or private schools come into play. For instance, they may take their children to Catholic schools in order to teach them those religious values. Therefore, parents should have a choice when they wish to pursue greater efficiency or specialty.
Reference
Herbst, J. (2006). School choice and school governance: a historical study of the United States and Germany. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.