Finland cannot afford the tuition fees!

During the national Day of Free Education 28.11. the students of the universities in Turku would like to make it known that only an education system that is free to everyone will guarantee equal possibilities for education and benefit the society in a best way possible. The Student Unions of Turku University, Åbo Akademi and The School of Economics oppose the experiment that could be part of the new law for universities. The law would allow tuition fees for students outside EU and EFTA countries.

The introduction of tuition fees is falsely expected to attract more students from abroad. "The tuition fee experiment does not fulfil its purpose", says the secretary of international affairs at the Student Union of Turku University, Heidi Tukia. The head of ISTU ry (International Students of Turku University), Experience Nduagu, believes that tuition fees will be harmful for the Finnish higher education system and the Finnish society: "I myself wouldn't have come to study in Finland if there had been tuition fees at the time." 

In Denmark tuition fees directed to exchange students caused a drastic decrease of students and later the fees were forgotten. Even in England, known for its excellent international universities, the researchers have suggested lowering the tuition fees in order to attract more students from abroad.

If the principle of free education is given up, it is likely that in the future Finnish students will have to pay for their education as well. What makes the tuition fee experiment extremely dangerous is that the experiment has not been judged with the relevant criteria. Giving up free education has weakened the position of students in several European countries. In Germany the number of female students and students from underprivileged backgrounds has decreased drastically in universities after student fees were enforced. Education is a prerequisite to a culturally and economically rich democratic society, it is not a commodity you can buy and produce. Students are not clients now, and do not wish to be ones in the future either!