by Deepa BHOOKHUN

I have had another one of my luminous ideas! (I bet you?re saying ?oh no, not again!?) Well, tough luck because I fully intend to share it with you; why doesn?t everyone who intends to do an undergraduate degree, a Masters or a PhD contact our friends in the opposition to help them organise a pressure group to demand that government pays for the tuition fees?

Imagine how much money this will save us! And why should people hesitate to ask for government to pay anyway? After all, they owe it to us, don?t they? Furthering our education is government?s duty; it?s part of free education.

And while we?re at it, we could submit our receipts for expenses accrued related to our studies. I mean, surely we need a new wardrobe, textbooks, nice pens, a new haircut, new shoes and so on? How about air tickets if we decide to study abroad? And accommodation?

Oh, does that sound unreasonable? Funny that. I thought free education comprised of all that.

Come on; let?s get serious for a moment. When are we ever going to understand that nobody owes us a single damn thing? How can supposedly intelligent people say with a straight face that it?s government?s duty to pay for our children?s SC and HSC exams? How can they justify the unjustifiable with the pathetic excuse that parents don?t have the means?

Well I?m afraid then that parents, who are not entitled to subsidies, are going to have to make some real effort and forgo some of their leisure activities to save for the exam fees of their kids.

Sounds harsh, doesn?t it? But there?s a valuable lesson in sacrifice; it makes people not take things for granted. So many people, who have made this country what it is, have achieved prosperity through education. An education that didn?t come free and didn?t come easy but was made possible through sheer determination and sacrifice.

Education nowadays is free to ease the way slightly so that some measure of instruction is achieved. So the rest becomes less difficult. Free education doesn?t mean Big Brother has to ground the food, spoon feed and swallow for irresponsible and lazy parents. It?s no generalisation by the way, just a figure of speech.

See for yourself what this culture of dependency has done to our youth; at the mere mention of a possible rise in practically non-existent tuition fees at the University of Mauritius, our admirable youth ? tomorrow?s professionals and, who knows, decision makers ? talk of demonstration and strikes.

The issue is not whether government should or should not pay for your children?s examination fees. (Goodness, why should they? Government didn?t make your children, you did!) The issue is the shameful mentality of many of our people. (And politicians of course, but this goes without saying.)

The young and old alike need to understand that life is not a walk in the park. Neither is it a free ride.

So get on with it.