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To provide the offspring of military families is, in my view setting a dangerous precedent. Whilst it is accepted that they are not the highest paid working members of society, military salaries are not the lowest either. Therefore to provide military personnel children with tuition fee discounts can be seen as giving them an unfair advantage when compared with children from families that have a lower disposable income.

There are those who would argue that, because of their unique position of serving their fellow man, military personnel deserve special rights. Whilst this argument has merit, it can be equally argued that the service given to the community by those employed within other areas of the public sector are just as deserving. For example nurses, police, fire; ambulance and refuse workers fulfil an equally important role in maintaining the formal structure of our society, at wages that do not adequately reward their contribution. People in these professions can no more afford to send their children to college than military personnel. Is it fair therefore to deny the children of these workers the same opportunity as those from military families?

In essence, access to college tuition is about fairness and equality. To advantage one child above another simply because of their parents wealth or chosen profession is unfair and unjust. To deny a child because their parents are not working within what is considered to be a preferred position, or because their parents do not have the financial resources to support that child through college, is equally unfair and unjust. No child can or should be held responsible for the chosen career path of their parents, nor should they be advantaged or disadvantaged as a result of their parent's career choice. There must be equality of education for all children, irrespective of race, creed, parent's occupation or parent's wealth. Anything less is discriminatory.

Thus, in my view, to provide the children of military personnel with college tuition discounts would be wrong because it is unfair, encourages active discrimination and will disadvantage other children.

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