Free education
[2] Free education--at various levels--has been guaranteed by both domestic constitutions and in international human rights treaties.
The "Minority Treaties" guaranteed racial, religious, and linguistic minorities in specific European countries an equal right with other nationals to establish schools at their own expense, but where such groups formed a considerable proportion of the population, they were assured of an equitable share of public educational funds, as well as instruction in their languages in public primary schools.
[citation needed] There are examples of steps towards free education being taken across the world primarily in those nations developing rapidly, such as China.
[22] The Free Compulsory Education Reform in China can be described as a program akin to a school subsidy initiative, wherein qualifying students receive financial assistance that encompasses tuition fees and other associated expenses.
[citation needed] In Mauritius, the government provides free education to its citizens from pre-primary to tertiary levels.
[citation needed] In New Zealand, the Labour government will introduce three years of free post-school study or training.
[37] Trinidad and Tobago offers free tertiary education to its citizens up to the undergraduate level at accredited public and select private institutions.
This benefit is given to the citizens under a programme called Government Assisted Tuition Expenses Programme and it is managed by the Funding and Grants Administration Division of the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training[38] In the United States, a variety of financial aid programs provide grants and student loans, mostly to low-income students, for any accredited college or university.
[40] Uruguay adopted free, compulsory, and secular education in 1876, after a reform led by José Pedro Varela during the Lorenzo Latorre dictatorship.
The 1990s saw the beginning of reforms with several NGOs and international bodies lobbying and offering support for free and inclusive education.
"[47] In the Soviet Union, Vladmir Lenin's government instituted a number of progressive measures which included access to universal education.
Other primacies at City College that helped shape the culture of American higher education include the first student government in the nation (Academic Senate, 1867);[9] the first national fraternity to accept members without regard to religion, race, color or creed (Delta Sigma Phi, 1899);[10] the first degree-granting evening program (School of Education, 1907).
In 1944, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Serviceman's Readjustment Act, also known as the GI Bill of Rights, into law.
One possible reason could be the ongoing Cold War at that time, which made President Truman shift his focus from the report to the war-defense spending.
After some years marshaling support and funding, the gratuidad law was passed in 2018, and as of 2019 covers tuition at participating schools for families in the bottom 60% of earnings nation-wide.
[54] Online education has become an option in recent years, particularly with the development of free MOOCs (massive open online courses) from providers such as Khan Academy (High School) and Higher Education, through providers such as edX, Coursera, Udacity, FutureLearn and Alison.
Students can take any classes free of charge, but are encouraged to help support the mission of the institution by making donations to this 501 (c)3 United States Charity.
[57] The Islamic Open University (IOU), a distance-learning higher education institution, offers tuition-free graduate and undergraduate degrees.
[59] Nidahas Vidyalaya has started an initiative named Freedom College towards providing tuition-free education in Sri Lanka.
[citation needed] In France, philosopher Michel Onfray created the first non-governmental free education university since antiquity, in 2002, with his Université populaire de Caen in Normandy.
His decision was triggered by the accession of far-right party Front National to the second round of the 2002 French presidential elections.
Onfray stated that people need more political, historical and philosophical background education to be more conscious citizens.
