Imagine walking into a hospital with a nail through your finger only to have a puzzled doctor shrug his shoulders.
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Such an outlandish scenario is at risk of fast becoming more of a norm.
Graduates and students are questioning the necessity of university study in a climate where expenses are climbing and degrees fail to guarantee jobs.
Boo hoo I hear some say. If you can't afford uni, don't go. Get a trade.
Fair call, but how has our education system become such a honeypot for financial gain where studying in a certain field is no longer viable financial option for all aspiring professionals?
Why are further education offers not based purely on merit, and not wallet size?
It’s in everyone’s interests for tertiary education to be affordable, whether its aspiring doctors and lawyers, or farmers and their families.
Investing in higher education helps support life as we live it today.
It’s as important as the unskilled labour forming the backbone of the country.
The government wouldn't subsidise on such a mass scale if it didn't provide some sort of financial windfall and contribution to society as a whole.
Tertiary investment doesn’t begin and end with university either.
Some would argue the government needs to do more to add financial stability for TAFEs.
And policy has seen a swing in the popularity of apprenticeships to the point where numbers are at historic lows.
Some may declare their outrage at having to chip in and help pay for some kid’s university degree.
But what if tertiary education wasn’t subsidised in this country?
Where's the ceiling before affordability begins to see doctor shortages in, heaven forbid, metro areas as well as in the bush?
Regional centres already rely heavily on foreign skilled workers filling general practitioner demands.
Recent changes to 457 visas by the federal government means more regulation will be placed on the steady stream of foreign practitioners entering the country.
Now is the time to question what happens if students can no longer afford to study medicine, and a reliance on international GPs can no longer be filled.
What if kids went to school only to find out they haven't got the financial means to become a doctor?
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Ben Jones
Area News Leeton Irrigator Coly-Point Observer
Area News Leeton Irrigator Coly-Point Observer
