Financial Privilege
and
ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL QUALITY 

It is undeniable that in order to attain quality education, a significant amount of financial support is required. This is particularly true when it comes to higher education, or education beyond secondary school. when you want to continue your education to a higher level after completing secondary school. Although tuition fees may vary from person to person, in most cases, higher education - be it at the national or international scale - requires students to pay a fairly large amount of fees to fund tuition and educational facilities. For this reason alone, it is unsurprising that a good number of individuals would think twice before choosing to pursue tertiary education, being hindered by a cost constraint. Some may also examine the alternatives available for them: they may either opt to postpone attending university in order to gain income by working; sacrifice any leisure time so they would be able to study and work simultaneously; or even choose to not pursue higher education entirely. According to data from the Indonesian government’s statistical bureau, Statistics Indonesia (2021), the national higher education participation rate was only 30.85 percent in 2020.

 

Furthermore, supplementary materials needed to improve acumen and skills indispensable for a successful university application, such as but not limited to foreign language courses, standardized exams, and consulting for scholarships, are often needed. All of these certainly require most individuals to prepare for more costs, which may be no less expensive than the cost of formal education itself. In other words, everyone will never get an equal amount of opportunities to enrich their educational backgrounds due to disparities in financial conditions. The financial background of the aspiring student unfortunately plays a significant role regarding this matter - the wealthier a person is, the more educational resources they’d be able to afford. 

 

Pecuniary advantages possessed by an individual, and, hence, their inherent ability to afford better educational facilities rendered, affects the career prospects and opportunities available to a graduate after completing their study. Those who are unable to afford education of high quality are more likely to receive lower salaries, sustaining the cycle of poverty.

 

Moreover, pecuniary advantages possessed by an individual, and, hence, their inherent ability to afford better educational facilities rendered, affects the career prospects and opportunities available to a graduate after completing their study. To simply illustrate, between two students with similar levels of intelligence and passion for learning, the one endowed with more fortunes will be more likely to afford a better-quality education than the other. For instance, the wealthier individual may be able to study at a prestigious institute that charges high tuition fees, which the less privileged student may not be able to afford in spite of having the capability to keep up with the academics of the institute. , taking advantage of their financial condition. Consequently, it would then be much easier for wealthier individuals to gain higher levels of knowledge, obtain more invaluable skills and, hence, attain better career opportunities, such as working for a reputable company for a high salary (Subroto, 2014). Meanwhile, the other student who does not have the same level of privilege has to be content with an average - or perhaps, even below average education - and would hence face greater struggles in attaining a lucrative career.

 

Upon further analysis, it can also be noted that students who are wealthier than others are more likely to able to focus solely on studying without having to worry about managing their basic necessities, whereas those who are less privileged may have to spend more time on duties such as assisting their families or seeking additional sources of income by working, providing them with less time for studies and potentially impacting their academic performance.

 

Therefore, contribution from every stakeholder is substantially crucial to bridge this gap in education, as well as economic inequality.

 

The gap in educational opportunities available due to unequal distribution of wealth in the economy is a vicious, intergenerational cycle that will continue to persist without proper intervention. Contributions from different stakeholders at various levels, or a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), as cited by Poed in Filho et al. (2020), is very much needed. We can only hope that the generations to come - especially those who hail from underprivileged backgrounds - will be able to afford higher education, mitigating the educational disparity and potentially overcoming the income gap as a result.