The government should pay for colleges and universities

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

The government should pay for colleges and universities; education should be free for everybody.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.


Sample Answer:
According to Francis Bacon, “knowledge is power”- Power to live a modest life, power to earn a modest income, power that brings off respect and dignity. When knowledge can confer the power for so many things, why then should it be confined to a few who have the advantage of opulence? Knowledge should be free for all those who deserve it, and what an individual deserves should be considered by individual’s intelligence and capability, not by wealth. The simplest and best approach to spread knowledge to all those who deserve it, is through free education. Therefore by making education free the government can unveil the new horizon of opportunities.

Our society is more divided by wealth than by any other aspect. There are the astonishingly few rich, the very rich, the middle income class, the poor, and those in severe poverty. And amid all these classes remain the impoverishment, unemployment, and pauperism. How can anyone think of expending money on education, when they do not have money for basic needs, like food or shelter? However, education is the silver bullet to all these ills that plague the society. Education is the only key to unlock the doors that leads to employment, and through it foods, shelter and better living standard. Therefore, providing free education to the deserving makes the pave of better living.

Similarly, talent and intelligence are not the forte of the affluent people alone. There are lots of undiscovered and untapped talent and intelligence veiled covered beneath destitution and impoverishment. Free education opens the avenue of opportunities to these untapped talented people. Through free education, the government can make sure that the intelligent and talented people can attain a better future through excelling their academic potentials. In addition, more educated people mean better governance from the grassroots to the national level. That is to say that educated people can make better choices in electing their representatives and are well aware of corruption and misuse of power. Educated people, thus, are conducive for a democratic state.

In fine, education is not an opportunity; it is the fundamental right of everyone. Moreover, not only is education remedy for the ills of unequal opportunity and wealth, but equally for the ills that plague our government and administration. That is why the government is obliged to ensure education free for all citizens. By making education free, government leads the nation towards the path of better future.