No such thing as free education

THE EDITOR: Have you ever considered what is the cost of sending a child to school? Well from my own experience at form three, this year, it will cost my parents just over $3,000 to send me to school. This figure is based on basic necessities. These are books $1500 uniform $500, transportation $500, plus the cost of extra curricular activities like field trips, donations and additional expenses not catered for about $500. What if after my 14 years of primary and secondary schools, I came out with little or no passes, how would I feel then. How would my parents feel. Over $40,000 gone down the drain.

There are several things to consider here, there is surely no such thing as free education and parents certainly do not give enough thought towards what they are getting themselves into when they are having kids. My point is quite realistic when you consider that there is 23 percent illiteracy in our population. How is that possible? Close to 23 percent of our population could not afford their children basic schooling. This figure of 23 percent illiteracy can be used to analyse our society. That is how much crime, poverty, delinquency, illiteracy, immorality and several other sectors that exist here in Trinidad and Tobago. The big question is, How do we resolve the situation? The answer may lie in a national family planning drive.

MICKELL GUNNESSAL
Student of Iere
High School