A state responsibility to provide some free tertiary education for adults?
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Authors
Scholes, V.
Keywords
Tertiary education
State responsibilities
Equality of access
Democracy
State responsibilities
Equality of access
Democracy
Description of form
Publisher
Rights
Rights holder
Issue Date
2007
Peer-reviewed status
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
One way of responding to the question of whether we should give some people access to free tertiary education is to start from a consideration of people�s rights. In the interests of bringing another perspective to bear on this question, we could approach it from the starting point of the State�s responsibilities. This paper addresses the following question: does the State�s general responsibility to provide education to support societal needs extend to providing any free education opportunities for adults? I start from the assumption that a democratic State has a responsibility for managing and encouraging the democracy of the society; the security of the society; the physical welfare of the society; and the cultural riches of the society. I suggest this assumption supports a claim of the State�s responsibilities to provide certain free education opportunities for children, then consider whether it suggests a responsibility to provide any free tertiary education opportunities for adults. I will argue that it does for some types of opportunities, including education for political awareness, and offer an example to indicate how the State could do this.
Citation
Scholes, V. (2007). A state responsibility to provide some free tertiary education for adults? In Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia Conference 2007, Wellington, New Zealand.