On Free Post-Secondary Education and Lifelong Learning

Much ink has been spilled in recent months - particularly in the province of Quebec - as to whether a post-secondary formal education is a privilege or a right.  After reflecting on this question over the summer, and listening in on several debates on the matter, I have not been swayed from my initial stance: it is a privilege.

A prosperous society should ensure that its citizens have access to a high quality elementary and high school education.  While some students benefit from this environment more than others, all high school graduates leave with a basic body of knowledge.  More importantly, after more than a decade of interacting with roughly fifty different educators, these young men and women, some more than others, have learned how to learn.

Learning is a right in the sense that no one should be prevented from doing so.  But learning is not limited to a school setting.  Educational institutions do not hold a patent on learning.  Someone who is not enrolled in University is still welcome to visit the library, to have discussions with friends and family, and to peruse the internet, which contains an unimaginable wealth of useful information amidst an endless supply of videos of cats eating their own vomit (the user gets to decide what content is more beneficial to them, and judging by hit counts on YouTube, society tends to favour cat puke).