Education is a People's Right, Not a Commodity
Free education is still not truly accessible to all citizens, especially underprivileged families. As the new school year begins, many parents must scramble to meet their children’s school needs, while others hunt for second-hand uniforms from graduated students. In Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara, economic pressures make it difficult for many families to provide school supplies. Amidst these conditions, community care and solidarity emerge to help ease each other’s burdens.
Obtaining decent and quality education in this country remains a challenge for many. The new school year is the most burdensome and unsettling time for most parents across the nation. On one hand, they hope their children can gain admission to a quality and affordable school, but on the other, that hope is often dashed by the zoning system that limits school choices, while education costs continue to rise. Moreover, the large expenditures for uniforms, school supplies, and other supporting needs further weigh down the family’s economic burden.
This condition is inevitable because the current application of the capitalist system views everything as a tradeable commodity, including education, which is a basic right of every citizen. Consequently, economic capability often determines access to quality education. Many low-income citizens must struggle hard to keep their children in school, whereas the best-facilitated schools generally charge high fees. It is no wonder that social inequality widens due to the uneven opportunity to obtain quality education. When education is no longer seen as a means to enlighten the nation’s life but instead becomes a business field, a shift in purpose occurs. The main goal of education ultimately shifts from forming a generation of intellect, noble character, and correct faith to a means of pursuing material profit.
Similarly, under capitalism, the state’s role shifts from being a caretaker of the people to merely a regulator that hands over many educational affairs to market logic. It is therefore understandable that education financing is not fully borne by the state but is charged to the public through various levies, including costs for uniforms, books, and school supplies. Moreover, there are still schools that mandate the purchase of uniforms or books from specific providers. Despite numerous complaints about burdening parents, enforcement is often weak or entirely absent. This shows that the state is busier regulating than managing. Education, which should be the right of every child, turns into a business commodity interest. Those with high economic capacity find it easier to access education, while poor families must spend time searching for used uniforms and books, and many even choose not to continue their children’s education.
The zoning system, complained about by many parents, is proof that equitable quality education across all regions has not been achieved by the state. Under the zoning system, certain schools with better facilities, teaching staff, and learning environments remain favourites, while many other schools are still left behind. Such a policy, instead of eliminating the problem, actually creates new issues due to the disparity in school quality. More precisely, zoning serves only as a limiter on school choice rather than a solution to educational inequality. This condition proves that the main problem of this gap is not the student admission system but an indication of the state’s failure to provide quality education services evenly. If disparities between schools persist and recur, it means all policies taken have not been able to provide a fundamental solution because they have not touched the root of the problem.
Natural resources, which are one of the state’s largest sources of financing and rightfully belong to the people for their welfare, are merely handed over to private and foreign corporations under capitalism. Ultimately, the profits are enjoyed only by a select few. It is no wonder that quality education is difficult to realise; under the pretext of a limited budget, education costs are no longer guaranteed by the state but are charged to the people through various levies, while the quality gap widens.
Seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim; therefore, education is a right for every citizen. Islam has stipulated that the state is responsible for its provision, so the state must provide free, quality, and equitable education without discriminating based on economic level or place of residence. Its implementation and financing must not be handed over to the private sector following market orientation. Because the basic educational needs of every citizen to form and produce a generation with an Islamic personality are forbidden to be used as a commodity for generating profit. Islam establishes the state as the caretaker responsible for managing the people’s affairs, not merely a regulator. Thus, serving and fulfilling the people’s needs is a sharia obligation for the state, for which it will be held accountable before Allah SWT. It is forbidden for the state to relinquish this trust to other parties, let alone burden the people with providing their own basic rights.