You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people think that all university students should study whatever they like. Others believe that they should only be allowed to study subjects that will be useful in the future, such as those related to science and technology. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer 1:
Whether university students should study subjects of their own choices or should they be obliged to study career oriented technology and science major subjects is a widely debated issue. Both of these views have arguments for and against them and this essay delves these views and expresses my opinion before drawing a reasonable conclusion.
On the one hand, a university is the highest citadel for education in a country and it is considered that it builds the next adept generation who would lead the country. From this regards, the education and teaching policy of the university affect the whole nation. Some experts are in the opinion that students at university level should be given a certain freedom while picking majors they study in and there should not be any predefined syllabus. They opine that forcing them to study some latest subjects for the future employment would make them become workers for offices, not leaders for the country. They also express that letting them study a wide range of subjects would make them far more knowledgeable and prepared to take challenges and this policy would inspire tertiary level students to follow their dream and not just blindly run for their career. Furthermore, society needs as many artists as there are as many scientists. Forcing university students to study only science and teach related subjects would create an imbalance in our society.
On the contrary, the university authority must consider the consequences of letting students choose their subjects. A recent study shows that predefined syllabus-bound a student study regularly and prepares for the exam while freedom to take any subject dramatically increases the number of dropout students. This is an alarming issue and this is why the university authority needs to think twice before implementing the policy. Furthermore, development of a nation, these days, highly depends on the technologically sound workforce and universities should yield such workforce for the country. From this perspective, it seems quite logical for universities to teach science related subjects to most of its students.
To conclude, universities have to consider the pros and cons of any policy adopted including whether the students are free to pick their subjects or not. Personally, I believe that letting university students prefer their subjects have far more benefits and seem more logical in a broader sense.
Sample Answer 2:
University students are going to lead different important sectors in few years and hence their education is one of the most important aspects of a country. It is often debated how much freedom they should be given while choosing the subjects and I personally believe that they should have the freedom to pick subjects within a prescribed syllabus, not whatever they like.
To begin with, the freedom of selecting subjects in university level would make the education more effective and would not force students study subjects that they have no interest at all. Though technology related subjects are quite important, students would not learn that much if he is forced to learn programming while his interest is in literature. Thus a student should be given the freedom to pick the subjects he likes, especially for the university students. For instance, many arts faculties in western universities offer students to pick technology related subjects while the reverse is also true.
However, an absolute freedom to pick subjects for the university students is not a good idea as well. This will often lead to situations when students will not have sufficient knowledge on some aspects that are crucial for the career. Some students would misuse this facility and pick the same subjects in different semesters. It will also lead to a haphazard situation as most of the students would like to study the same subjects and the university authority would not be able to offer these courses to all.
To conclude, a certain freedom while picking subjects in university level is very helpful for the overall development and knowledge enhancement of students. However, an absolute freedom would make the outcome worse.
Sample Answer 3:
Nowadays, it is obviously seen that majority of people tend to carry on their higher education in institutions such as a university or a college. While some citizens believe that students should have their freedom to study subjects that they are interested in while others disagree with it and opine that they have to be involved in major that will be very utilitarian in the future.
At the beginning, every person in this world is likely to have human rights, which means they are free to follow something that they like, choosing a subject at the university as an example. Generally, students have a tendency to join the major that rely on their passions. To illustrate, my brother, Luce, he has an interest in analysing data and he has decided to go into Statistics and the committee of a university cannot restrict him to study that subject since that action seems restricting someone from his interest. Thus once a student gets admitted to a university or a college, s/he should have the freedom to read the subjects that interest him/ her. Studying from passion is more effective in most of the cases.
On the other hand, many people feel that students should join in a major, particularly which is related to technology and science, such as natural science and technology, information technology etc. and they should solely focus on studying these subjects. Based on research carried out by Statistics Center in Semarang, it is predicted that due to globalisation, the world will be focused on technology and science in the future. So, it is certainly believed that college students should be involved in correlating with those subjects so that they can adapt to the future circumstances and develop themselves.
After hashing out both points of views, it can be concluded that although people certainly have a freedom to choose their major in university and colleges, it is a wise decision to study subjects that can be utilised in their future.
[ Written by – Izzah Raisya ]