With reference to the article Sleeping on one?s laurels: Can we afford such an attitude ? by Rookaya Kasenally in l?express of 14th March 07), I would like to bring my two-cents worth to the debate.

First, Liberal economics of which we hear more and more these days. The gist of this philosophy is that no one owes anyone anything and everything is left to the caprice of ?market forces?. It thus reduces human society to its raw natural state where dog eats dog and every man for himself.

But, what makes us human beings different from other forms of life is precisely our faculty to empathise with and give a helping hand to the weak. By contrast, in the animal world, the weak is just left behind to perish and die. But, we are human and, as such, expected to behave with humanity towards all living things, including human beings. Altruism aside,we need educated people for the advancement of the whole of society.

This links us neatly to the question as to ?why should the burden of free tertiary education be transferred onto the whole population when only a portion of that population will benefit from that free service ?? The quick answer is: for the wider common good, but I feel this needs expanding.

Let us suppose there is an island called Myopia lost somewhere in the middle of a vast ocean, far away from ?civilisation? where ther are no ophthalmic surgeons. And, that everyone on Myopia suffers from poor vision due to a pandemic of cataract. In its wisdom, the island?s government decides to tax each one of its one million citizens MYR 100 to fund the postgraduate specialist training of 100 of its qualified medics.

In theory, only those 100 doctors will benefit from this expenditure for eye surgeons are well remunerated in terms of pay and conditions in return for their hard earned skills. But, in reality, as the newly trained surgeons begin to put their skills into practice, the benefit will start to accrue to the entire population as everyone begins to see clearly. Both in terms of health and productivity, bringing joy and prosperity to the entire Myopian nation.

For those of us who have already gained our degrees and settled in richly deserved jobs, it is all too easy to ignore the desolation felt by those who are struggling at the bottom of the ladder to attain the same. I know how it feels because, born as I was in a labouring family, I am one of those who did it the hard way. And, I would certainly not like to see a return to the days when only children whose parents could afford it went to college. ?The idea that differences of educational opportunity among children should depend upon differences of wealth among parents is a barbarity.? (R. H. Tawney)

A propos, why do we insist on spending MUR 115 million every year on ?laureates? when hardly any of them ever returns to the motherland to put their knowledge to her benefit ? Why is there a deafening silence on the subject ? Is it so taboo ? Is it so sacrosanct ? Or, is there some particular agenda ? Whichever it is or isn?t, in my opinion, we can ill afford to go on throwing away MUR one billion of taxpayers money every ten years on a project that does not bring much direct benefit to the country.

Lastly, let there be no doubt. If Mauritius is what it is today ? a jewel in the crown of Africa and a pride for all of us ? it is in no small measure due to the provision of free education for all. Future generations will surely be forgiven for cursing us if we take away this fundemental right from them.

Toro Del Fuego A (retired) patriot