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| The
Importance of Tuition Reimbursement and Adult Learning
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In the modern world human education plays an increasingly
more important role since the rapid development of new technologies
and their implementation in different spheres of life inevitably
contributes to the growing necessity of getting education.
However, education cannot be viewed as a process limited in
by some period of human life. In stark contrast, nowadays,
it is evident that education should be a life time process.
At the same time, it is not always evident for people and
companies they are working at. This is why some companies
do not pay a lot of attention to training and educating their
employees in an attempt to save costs. On the other hand,
employees, even though they realize the necessity of education
and want get some additional training, they still face a serious
problem of the cost of education, which they simply cannot
afford. As a result, it is obvious that the tuition reimbursement
should become an essential component of the strategy of any
company since this is the major condition of the successful
adult learning, which, in its turn, is necessary for the permanent
progress of employees and, thus, higher efficiency and productivity
of their work.
On analyzing the problem of the tuition reimbursement and
adult learning, which many companies refuse to pay for, it
is primarily necessary to underline that adult education is
vitally important not only to employees but to the companies.
Moreover it is even more important to a company to invest
money in tuition and education of its employees than to the
employees themselves. Such, at first glance, paradoxical situation
can be easily explained by the recent trends in the development
of the world economy and labor market. Nowadays, it is obvious
that education is the major condition of the progress of a
company because tuition provides employees with new knowledge
and skills that they can apply during their work. At the same
time, the new knowledge and skills will inevitably increase
the efficiency and productivity of work of an employee and,
what is more, an employee can produce new knowledge and polish
his/her skills due to the tuition and learning in his/her
adulthood and such an employee will be constantly informed
the recent trends in a particular industry he/she works in.
Also, it is necessary to realize that tuition and adult learning
are really essential because it provides employees with the
ability to increase their professional level and, what is
more, get ready to experiment and implement new knowledge.
In such a way, employees will progress steadily.
Obviously, adult learning and tuition are essential but, the
natural question arises whether the reimbursement of tuition
is essential or probably the costs of tuition outweigh its
benefits. In this respect, it should be said that, on realizing
the necessity of tuition and adult learning of employees,
a company should also realize that, without the reimbursement
and providing their employees with ample opportunities to
get trained, it will be impossible to increase the educational
and professional level. In fact, it is obvious that, as education
and tuition are growing to be more and more expansive, employees
themselves cannot afford the continuous education throughout
their adulthood.
Moreover, in actuality, what employees can normally do is
just receive the basic education, some receive better education
while other worse, but they cannot simply afford their further
education during their adulthood. There are several reasons
for such a situation. Firstly, as it has been just said above,
it is too expansive for an average employee. Secondly, if
a company does not give them time to get educated or trained,
they will not. Thirdly, it is not a secret that many employees
are not sufficiently motivated to invest in their own education
without any stimuli or interest from the part of their company’s
administration. As a result, they do not see any practical
reasons to continue their education, if a company does not
reimburse their tuition.
Potentially, such a situation may be quite dangerous since,
if an employee does not continue his/her education during
adulthood, it will be not only an employee, who suffers from
the lack of essential knowledge or skills, but, primarily,
it will be the company, which suffers from the lack of professional
skills and knowledge of its employee. As a result, the efficiency
of work of the company at large will decrease because of the
backwardness of its employees.
At the same time, it is necessary to remember about the fact
that, in the modern world, the investments in education are
the most profitable since a company does not simply reimburse
tuition of its employees but it invests in its own future
since, nowadays, knowedge and information are the most valuable
‘products’. Practically, it means that, when a
company reimburse tuition of its employees, it actually invests
in its further development since the trained and educated
employees could have not only new skills and knowledge but
they can also produce knew knowledge as, during their adult
learning, they get used to constantly acquire new knowledge
and, thus, they can produce new knowledge and share it with
other employees within the company. As a result, the general
professional level and the opportunities to implement innovations
within a company increase, while innovations are extremely
important to the rapid progress of the company.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible
to conclude that, in the modern world, companies should take
an active part in tuition reimbursement and adult learning
of their employees since education is necessary for the development
and the progress of a company, employees themselves cannot
afford the further education without a company’s assistance,
and finally, it is a good investment in the future of the
company. In such a way, it is obvious that, in actuality,
it is up to the company to decide whether to save costs and
do not reimburse tuition of their employees and get ready
to gradual degradation, or to invest in the education of its
employees and keep progressing.
Bibliography:
Parkays F.W. and G. Hass. Curriculum Planning, LA: Allyn and
Bacon, 2000.
Rebore Ronald W. Human Resources Administration in Education,
LA: Allyn and Bacon, 2001.
Rosen, Sidney (ed.). My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching
Tales of Milton H. Erickson, M.D., New York: Touchstone, 1991.
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