Parents have a right to choose which school their children attend – this is the basic foundation on which the school voucher program is built. If they’re not satisfied with the local school their kids have been assigned to, they can ask for the vouchers and redeem them for an education at a school of their choice. Of course, if it’s an expensive private school, mom and dad have to earn more money to cover the difference in tuition fees and other costs. But at the end of the day, the fact remains that parents have the right to pick and choose the school that educates their children.

Besides looking at the subject of school vouchers from the advantageous position of the parents’ point of view, let’s lend a ear to the opinion of the rest of the population; the proponents of this system are of the idea that public schools will be forced to pull up their socks and provide an education that’s at par with private schools in an effort to prevent their students from leaving for greener pastures. There’s also the fear that for each student that leaves the system, there’s going to be a corresponding decrease in the amount of money channeled to public schools from the government coffers.

But the detractors have these points to voice:

• They feel that the voucher system allows parents to send their children to schools where religious indoctrination is rife rather than choosing one that’s best in the academic sense. This would only lead to segregation based on religion, a situation that’s an anathema to the constitutional separation of religion and the state.

• Some of them argue that education is a field that’s not suited to the competitive market and cannot be analyzed and studied with the same markers and standards used for other disciplines.

• Others vent frustration at the fact that the government is naïve enough to think that any school reform that’s based on privatization, competition and the parent factor will succeed in the long term.

A school is only as good as its teachers; they are the ones who are responsible for making the kids want to learn, providing them with the motivation to succeed, and looking out for their best interests. Private schools may be more expensive, but price is no guarantee of quality, as we see in things that we use in our everyday life. School vouchers or not, parents would do well to pick schools that boast the best teachers, because they are the ones who are responsible for molding their children into the shapes they were born to be.