I finished my Engineering 15 years back, the cost of education at that time was comparatively much lower than the current situation. My parents paid for my college fees and also used to send me monthly pocket money to take care of my ongoing expenses. In fact, it is not just about college fees, as far as I remember till the time I got my first salary in hand, all my expenses were borne by my parent. At that time the cost of living was comparatively much less, it might have worked at that time. But now when the incomes of middle-class family are not increasing at the same rate at which the expenses are increasing, does it really make sense for parents to spoon feed their children till they turn 22 or 25 in some cases.
This seems to be a very simple question, but if you really think deep, it brings up more questions and lead to contradictory debates. When I finished my 12th standard and was waiting for my results to be declared. I had couple of months of free time, I wanted to do some part time job, so I get some extra bugs before I start college, and also because I get to meet new people at job. My thinking is the early you learn practical life lessons, it would be easy for you to adapt the reality of life. But my parents were against the idea of me working, they thinking was if you focus on working, you may lose interest in studies. So till you complete your studies you should not be working. But the trend is different in foreign counties. There kids take good time to understand and chose the education of their choice, and they have to arrange the tuition cost on their own by taking loads from banks and repaying them once they start working. In fact most kids after a certain age are kicked out of their parents home and find accommodation somewhere else. In some cases, kids have to pay rents to their parents if they had to stay in their parent’s house. Does it mean, parents in foreign countries don’t love their kids as much as Indian parents…..The answer is “Nooooo”. All parents love their kids in the same way, it’s just that parents from foreign countries try to make their kids self-reliable and independent at a lower age.
Not all family are rich and can afford the current education cost. Once kids reach an age for higher education, at that time parents age would be around 45-50, and they would need money for their own retirement, health care, etc. Should kids really become a burden on their parents. We have been spoilt by our culture (Truth is culture doesn’t spoil anyone, we chose to massage it and use to our own benefit). In our culture as a parent we think it is our responsibility to take care of our parents, also take of our kids till they are fully settled in life and have their own kids, and then we start thinking of our grandkids as our responsibility for their upcoming and getting settled. By doing so we keep working hard and struggling throughout our life. In fact, the same culture or trend is passed on to our kids. We feel proud of this culture but now when I think of parents I feel sad for them. When I was enjoying in my college days on their hard-earned money, my father was struggling to take care of other family needs. Instead of taking rest or going out for vacation, he was thinking of second source of income.
In my opinion, kids should be taught the importance of education and also the importance of money that will buy food, clothes, home and education. Kids should be taught and made understand the value of money, so they understand to get a decent life, they need to have a decent earning, and to get a decent earning they should get good education. Once the kid understands this logic, he will study hard. We have lot of summer time between school years. Those summer time should definitely be utilized to have fun, and at the same time it can also be used for some intern programs or part time jobs.
These part time jobs will give you exposure to meet new people, new challenges and how to deal with them. They will also give you some extra bucks to buy new dresses, books, tuition fees for your colleges. Also, government has brought up new schemes to promote education, by giving cheaper loans and relaxed return policies.
This is my personal opinion and based on my personal experience. This is not an expert opinion. But I am sure it will make all of us think and guide us to take the right decision.
