The two difference between education before and education now is the employment and the unemployment rate.
In those days, if you graduate from school, there was every tendency that a job is already waiting for you immediately after graduation, you don't need to write plenty applications for you to be employed, infact, I heard job was giving with a car to drive.
But now, hardly will you see such happen, I don't know if it's because education is now very common and everyone is able to get it now, or it's because the country is getting worse everyday. I just know that things weren't like this in those days, atleast certificate was valued, the four or five years spent in school didn't always go in vein, but now it seems the reverse is the case, everything is just turning upside down, and with the way things are even going, it will only get worse if God did not intervene.
The difference between education before and now isn't about affordability, it's about the country situation. In my opinion, the country doesn't value education due to selfishness, which is why education was better in the past. Our leaders then put the needs of the masses first, ensuring access to quality education, They do choose qualified teachers who put in their best effort and time under close supervision from above, but today's educational authorities are so selfish that they recruit based on connections rather than qualifications.
Education before work is more than enough for graduates, which is what motivates them to study more, but nowadays, works are difficult. We have more graduates than works, which is why youth don't value education anymore. How many first-class grads are struggling today? Does this encourage education?