To what extent has free education impacted on the performance, attitude,
and behaviour of students?

A teacher’s perspective on the effect free education in Oman has had on students in terms of performance, attitude and behavior.

Some back ground info

The Middle East, a place where I have gained most of my teaching experience, has given me the opportunity to see education from a different perspective. Coming from South Africa and a victim of circumstance from an extremely disadvantaged background, the only thing we had to look forward to was knowing that education was the gateway to a better life, a life which was different to what we had come to know and expect within our community, because there was nothing that came free – especially an education. Keeping this in mind, I paid close attention to the value of education and the impact it would have in my life if I worked hard and remained motivated about my life and my future. I had come to understand that out of everything in life, education was something that I could hold on to and grow from and which could never be taken from me. This gave me the drive I needed to push through. Even though I was a full time student and working two jobs, I knew that this was what I needed to do in order to free myself from the shackles of poverty. It gave me an appreciation for my life, and a very deep appreciation for education. I learned how never to take any opportunity for granted. I learned the value of hard work. I learned the true meaning of education.
In learning these valuable lessons, and understanding what education really is and it was very surprising for me to see how differently education is viewed in a country where it is free. Where a student is actually paid to go to school, college or university. Where the government gives its people more than what is considered a standard fundamental right as a human being (United Nations, 1997). Where opportunities are plentiful and endless and an education would not cost a citizen anything monetary. It might not come at a monetary cost, but can a free education come at an even higher price?
Over the years, I have been witness the dire effect a free education has had on people, specifically my students. I have seen how easy they tend to think things come and how easily a sense of entitlement can develop. Where there is no real value in education for them and this has led to a serious lack of motivation learning and understanding.
Free education has come at a very high cost. It has cost them their zeal and has left them disillusioned about the future, but to what extent? This is what I would like to address within the context of my dissertation. I would like to look at the cost of a free education. By examining the price that students have paid in terms of a lack of motivation which has led to poor academic performance, a poor work ethic which has led to disinterest and misunderstanding the relationship between skills and qualifications and lastly, a general sense of entitlement which has led to students thinking that many privileges that have been afforded to them is a right.

I would like to understand this from a teacher’s perspective, because teachers know their students, they understand their students and they would be able to give a perspective of the effects free education has had on their students motivation, attitudes and behavior because they are in the classroom every day and are learning more about the teaching and learning environment through the experiences they have with their students. Through these experiences, teachers would also be able to give a perspective of how much or how little free education has affected students in a general sense.

What is free education?

But firstly it is essential to understand what free education is and the intention behind it. According to Bowler (2005); Spring (2010) and Marrier (1999) free education is a service of teaching and learning which is financially subsidized by either the government or organizations and is offered at no cost to either it’s citizens and /or whomever chooses to undertake an education within a said educational institution of a country offering this option. Gennings (1995. p.108) also adds that free education differs from country to country, ‘in which education would be free at primary, secondary and in some cases even tertiary educational level’. Berger (2001) states that basic education at both primary and secondary level is a right and according to the United Nations (UN) national guidelines on education (1997), this basic human right to free education is a tool to alleviate poverty, increase the literacy rate of a country and its people, promote job creation as well as increase employment. Gilmore (1984, p.128) further elaborated on this by stating that ‘a higher rate of literacy of a country increases the overall upkeep of its people’. Taking the abovementioned perspectives into consideration, the collective view of free education can be understood when evaluating the common features present in the description and breakdown of the term ‘free education’ as a whole. Therefore taking these features into consideration , free education can be understood as a (basic) human right that the government or an organization provides for its people (and in some cases non-citizens) in order improve the state of the country, its economy and the general population as a whole.