Essay Topic: Many museums charge for admission while others are free. Do you think the advantages of charging people for admission to museums outweigh the disadvantages?
The Essay: It can be seen that while several museums have an admission fee for entry yet others have none. There certainly are few benefits as well as drawbacks to both systems.
To begin with, when a certain fee is charged from visitors to museums, it enables the authorities to generate funds for their upkeep. After all , a lot of money is needed to maintain the premises and pay salaries to the staff. For instance, the National Museum in New Delhi has an entry fee of twenty rupees and it is very well preserved. Besides, whatever is priced is valued more than something that is given free. It is human psychology that we do not appreciate complimentary items or services and take them for granted. Often it is seen that museums that are free of charge do not have many visitors or do not provide desired services.
On the other hand, there are many poor students and people who are desirous of gaining knowledge by taking a tour of a renowned museums but are unable to, due to the high priced admission ticket. This deprives the needy of gaining access to museums and expanding their horizons. Keeping the museums free and open for all, will enable the rich and poor alike to study and know about the history of the world, human civilisation, flora and fauna and so on, that is displayed in a museum.
To conclude, according to me, the process of taking an admission fee for museums provides more merits vis-a-vis demerits, nevertheless, the fee could be minimal to encourage all classes of people to take advantage of museums which are like temples of learning.