Absolutely

If the country needs certain trades etc maybe but reimburse them when they have passed the courses/exams and have their ticket and then hold them to working in that country for 2yrs so the country gets some return on its investment. This works for Professionals also.

Yes but only for Australian citizens (in Australia of course!!)

Who would pay for it? Just like any business, there are costs that must be paid. Someone has to pay for it. Also, as a general rule, things given to someone does not have as much meaning and importance as something that is earned. Handing someone a free education that was funded by someone else may not be what they need in the end. They may need the satisfaction of the hard work and time and struggle that went into the education for the value to be there.

No one mentioned employers should make a contribution towards apprenticeships. My nephew got one with a ship building company some time back. I think it was partly through tafe and partly through the company themselves, which was partly funded by the state government. More business need to show their hand and support apprenticeships. Why do these bigger companies expect the government to pay for all free tertiary education? Since these companies are the beneficiary of educated employees.Edited 07-Aug-24 01:52am

No. It's bad enough that they indoctrinate through high school. Many things don't even need a college degree. Learn a trade. Most degrees are bs now anyway (and I don't mean baccalaureate of science) You want to go to college, YOU pay for it. Everyone screams "my body, my choice" when they want to unalive their unborn child, so your degree, your loan payments. Period.

No, and it's not going to happen in Australia. Neither government is going to offer complete free University education. So no good of talking about it on rewardia. Taxes would have to rise and it would cost billions more.

Once they finish high school it’s free . After they enter uni pay for everything. Education is an important part of life.

Maria hit the nail on the head

free seems to cost you and me a lot in taxes. nothing is FREE.

yes it will increase number of qualified personel

Definitely!!

Nothing is free!! There is a cost somewhere!! We need to stop telling all the kids that they HAVE TO go to Uni!!!

Most definitely for all legitimate Citizens of this fair land or ours. The fairer the better educated people become without the worry of getted hexed by those infirnal HECs Frees! There seems to be plenty of $$$s in the Coffers to throw at war mongers, for goodness sake that would be better spent on educating our people, giving them a trade whether it be brain or brawn power as we despartely need both kinds!!!

Yes so they don't end up with huge Hecs fees to pay off as they increase each year.

Yes. That's a fair trade

YES!! BUT IT SHOULD BE MEANS TESTED LIKE AUSTRIALIAN SUPERANUATION.

My first thought is yes, definitely - but then who pays the educators? They can't reasonably be expected to give up their time for free. For those who are on low incomes the government should definitely subsidise it or pay for it, but for those who can afford to pay for their education, then they should pay.

It depends, are the educators volunteers?

YES

I think so it should not cost money

YES

Absolutely, we all benefit from anyone who puts the work in to educating themselves.

Yes

Yes

Absolutely and apprenticeship should be paid a livable wage whist training.

I'm with Claudette 1462811...Qui

Subsidised but personal contribution should be made

If the service is put to your country for at least 10 years then fees should be waived

Yes!

in a perfect world YES but its not perfect and educating people is expensive

Y

Depends entirely on what education your wanting some are for more expensive to provide than others

Absolutely, it’s an asset to our country.

Until college or uni yes

Up to 18 years should be free.After that, if it is in an area where there are shortages, the last year should be free. In NZ one who trains in the 'trades' building/plumbing etc one does a bit of theory but a lot of 'on the job' training for which they are paid. Maybe with the world shortage of medical people at the moment there needs to be some incentive for them. Personally I would like to see medical working and being paid for the last year, with the second to last being free as long as they are bonded to the country they trained for at least 3 years after completion

Yes, but Limited to those Trades amd Professions which are ACTUALLY Needed. We have this thing called University of the Third Age and people of any age. inckluding tghose wkll past retirement who are simply Bored and haven't the Imagination to think up or do useful things such as Volunteering, so they decide they will go to University. Why? By the time the get through and if they graduate with some sort of Degree they are so old no-one would employ them. So they are wasting the time of people who would be better employed teaching, tutoring, mentoring young people who have their whole lives ahead of them. If you haven't made your mark or acheived anyhting by the time you are anout 60 then it is far too late.

nothing is really free. how can we ever know. So called free education like April R said would head in the wrong directions.

Absolutely NOT!!! If it was free, then the "NOT serious" people would be signing up, clogging the system for the "Serious" people who WANT/ NEED their specified Courses/ Training programs! Having it "Cost effective"/ "Cost friendly" but with a longer term for enrollment is what I would recommend to withhold "Value" to "Cost(s)"! 😊♥️

Ther should be some cost & assistance for students who have financial problems, however the hex fee is getting out of hand, some students when they have qualified have a huge bill at a time when they might want to settled down buy a property & commence in their profession . We are now paying for this as we do not have enough Doctors ,nurses, trades,& teachers, some graduate then go overseas where their skills can be used at better wages.Years ago to qualify for a teacher when you graduated you were on a bond if you did not pass all your subjects you did not receive a raise or promotion until you did, some teacher colleges were free board however you had to receive an entry scholarship , you had to teach two years in the country , the rules certainly were different however they did try out really good teachers, this method made it affordable for low income family as did nurse training live in on the job.

Oui

yes

Yes...

Yes it should be grades 1-12 or what ever they call it first year. IF you want further its user pay. Why should taxpayers pay for someone to get better education and more money from earnings

Yes even Menzies argued for this back in the day as the Asian countries were doing it and gaining an advantage on Australia. Then some idiot in the Liberal National Party came up with the insane idea of User Pays and introduced fees for all Tirecary Education and to get over the problem of not having anywhere enough qualified people started importing them from the Asian Countries where they did not have to pay to have them educated so they expected everyone in AU to pay for their education but when they needed someone who was not available here they could get them educated for free. Typical pf the Hypocrisy that they sprout all of the time.

I think tafe courses should be free if you are going to be a tradie

Lots of free take courses. However nothing is free, taxes fund it

Yes it should be. My husband is from another country and you have to pay for school and uniforms these have to be paid no matter what or your child does not go to school no exceptions .

Nothing in this economy is free - except bad advice but if you take it you'll be sorry. The real question is "How much are you prepared to have your taxes raised to pay for it?"

where does this free idiocy come from? If you pay income tax you are paying for education. When your children are no longer being educated you are continuing to pay for some other children. If I had been on some sort of universal pay as you go kick, I would have stopped paying15 years ago

All education should be free!

Yes

For reading and writing Yes absolutely. Every thing else is up to the company doing the teaching. Teachers need to eat too, companies need to pay their employees,pay their taxes, rent and they need to be certified. If they aren't certified then it doesn't count because they don't have the qualifications to teach the subject. Hex fees are outrageously expensive and should be calculated on some ones ability to do the job they are striving for. To become a nurse the amount of free hours they have to do is massive. I was shocked when I heard it, I just can't remember the amount of time but it was like a very long time. Some people shouldn't be what they have become because they aren't suited to the job but sadly it all has to do with money and not a passion for the work.

yes...sliding income scale.

In some cases it is. You can learn so much online for free but an archaic employment system would rather people go into debt and get the signed approval document instead. Everything feels like a giant scam.

NO Dan

Yes as it aligns with freedom of speech

Yes.

Yes, yes, yes.

Ye S

Trade and tech schools should be.

Believe TAFE is free in WA at the moment

Education is never free, the question should be, should taxpayers pay for all education or should parents pay for some of the education their children get.

To the people living in the Country.

Primary School in Australia should be free there are a lot of families who cannot pay for books and excursions that schools take the children. When I was growing up education was free except for school books off course but any excursions were free the school/Education Dept paid for things like that for kids to experience other things in life like music or plays and film.

Maybe it should be free with certain rules. It would be necessary to keep marks at a level that would guarantee graduation. The cost of the education should be paid up front by the student. How the student gets the money is not a concern, like they would get a loan, mom and dad would pay, the student would have a job paying their own way and so on. As long as it is legal. After graduation the cost of the education would be paid back to student. The student must graduate. Then the student would promise to work for a certain period, maybe 5 years, in their field of study. Failing that the student would expect to repay the coast of their education. These rules make ensure the student are serious. This is just a place to start the finer details can be filled in and improved upon.

Yes but with criteria. If a person doesn’t make the grade by not taking things seriously, he/she should be placed on probation and eventually removed from the course. We definitely need skilled labor but students should learn responsibility.

If we want a nation with a higher intellect, yes it should be free. If we want a nation that is just a follower to other countries continue on. You can have the best education possible but if your not from the right set your opportunities will be limited.

For Australians - Yes Yes Yes

Yes up to and including College or High school. After that user pays.

WHY? Maybe the question should be why do we need so much education? IT is a money making rort. wake up. We now have to get a uni certificate to sell sandwiches. the world is mad on steroids

Junior and secondary schooling in free and University is subsidized by the government.

I think it should be free for all children up to 18 and then for higher education they should be able to get goverment asistance to help with there uni costs

Free to everyone up to 18 years of age! World wide!! 18+ training and higher education govt pays through taxing the top tier corporations and richest people and conglomerates Edited 06-Aug-24 08:01am

Not sureEdited 06-Aug-24 07:41am

Nothing is free. Either the person who directly benefits from it pays or the costs are diffused through the populace via taxes.

Only If it guarantees getting a job in the field you're studying

yes

how can it be free

The problem isn't just the cost. It's the brainless fools in government who for years have been pushing *everybody* towards university degrees and tech jobs, and are now wondering why there are shortages of the "lesser" (often more necessary) jobs. It isn't just post-secondary education either. The idiots have been trying to force primary / junior schools into teaching *every* kid how to code / program computers ... even little ones aged 5 years old.

As nice as a free education would be for all there are way too many ways to take advantage of something such as this, I also agree that teachers should not be a free resource. I think that parents have the duty and obligation to help teach their children about higher education and the costs and such. Have a great day....

How can it be free?? Are teachers and profs going to be volunteers? Someone has to pay and it should be the people that benefit from the education. Basically, if you are learning something post secondary then you should pay for it. That being said I think the cost of post secondary education is way overinflated.

Most education should be free. It is an advantage to the government to have all citizens educated.

Yes I think so

yes

Yes It should be free up to University Entry

Partly it should be

Yes wnd No. Yes if u are actually willing to get a job out of it. No because u will get stupid idiots abuseing it. So i think that u should pay until u get a job and stay at least 2 years then get a portion back and the more years u stay the more u get back.

Apprenticeships should be accommodated to some degree, however, tertiary education should be paid by the applicant/student...there are many students who do not complete their tertiary education and the debt remains with the taxpayer. Also, some students just continue on with Uni and never seem to obtain a job!! This also, is an impost on the taxpayer.

Yes

we learn about debt early

Yes it should be . Trade schools and colleges for sure. It’s an investment in the country future

NO. NOTHING IS FREE. AND WHY SHOULD IT BE? IF YOU WANT TO BUILD A LIFE FOR YOURSELF, START MAKING SACRIFICES AND STOP WHINGEING ABOUT IT.

Yes!

I think it would be great if it's free. I don't see it happening in the U.S. when SO much of their budget goes to war/military/weaponry. There would be a greater balance if it was free, or at least partially government funded. Student loans are a large part of why people limit themselves in their education. We would have more deserving doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc. if anyone with the intelligence and discipline could get in to the training and not just those who can afford the schooling. Make it free, along with advice as to what our areas need more of. Right now in my town the education is fairly inexpensive for Personal Support Workers, but when the students graduate, they are GUARANTEED a job in the area because we are short. Likely goes for everywhere but I think it's a great idea and incentive.

There is no such thing as free. Somebody has to pay for it, and it will be the taxpayer.

Imo, the nations who will have the greatest economic development, over the next century, will be the nations that make education and training available to the greatest percentage of their population.

The US just gave Ukraine 4 BILLION DOLLARS! I think that answers your question, as far as the US is concerned! ;-]

quality would go way down, it should be free for 2 year college though

Free education for all, what a noble cause, guess what nothing is free it’s just that the great taxpayer of (insert country) pays, yes it’s desirable to have an educated population, but you still need leaf rakers.