GRE Issue evalauation

[salil31]

Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed.

I understand the responsibility, mentioned in the issue topic, is a shared responsibility among the students and educational instiutions. No one alone can be judged responsible for their future and success.

The process of evalutation starts early for one's career. When we are a kid, we seek some idles among our social contacts. These idles may be the parents, relatives, TV heores, politicians, or anyone who the kids admire most. Whenever asked who they want to be in future, a promopt reply comes idealizing a person who they admire most.The likings get changes later on after experiencing some more realities, often by expanding social contacts. This continous evalauation never stops even when we think we are settled, as most of time, even in our dreams, we would like to be someone else than who we are. I believe there is a constant struggle going on between "loe what you do or do what you love," and I will explore on the prospects of getting a right thing for oneself in following paragraphs.

At the age of three or four, child usually starts his/her schooling. Now-a-days even school system is constantly improving. When I finished my class X, I was wondering whether to go for Engineering or Medicines, as no other mainstream options I could think of. These two fields, which I narrowed down for myself, were based on the trends being followed in our social system. On the other hand, today's child is more aware, mostly attributed to the positive nature of schooling. His/her career aptitiude gets assessed early and courses are also flexible to aid in his/her strong prospects. The tool which is know as career councling, though administered by third party, provides a near evaluation of child's preference at the time of evaluation. However, there are chances a student can get biased and sooner or later he/she realiises his/her deviation from those set of likings. Although, the system can be critiqued, yet it provides a set of ideas where one can hone one's skills.

IITs are considered to be top engineering institutions in India. Students are selected thruogh a very tough exams asking the questions from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. later, based on the merit, a student gets the discipline, not necessarily based on one's likings. Being a forced system, initially, all the things look bright, but realizations start to occur even after first semester. Only by modifying the exam assessing critical thinking and providing enogh flexibility so that student can pursue engineering in one's desired field can not only save the talent of the country from getting wasted but also create a newly reformed system ensuring opportunities for every one.

In my view, if the burden and a sense of contributing toward society, if undetood well, can be shared harmoniously among the educational institutions and students, then this transparetn system may ensure, not fully though, a happy future for the younger generation. Instead of taking a finger on the part of institutions alone. we should also understand our role in future building and act accordingly.

[jen]

Hi Salil,

I liked the other essay you posted (about studying cities) -- I think this essay does not do as well.

First, I do not think you are addressing the topic. Do educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade (dissuade = persuade not to do) students from pursuits in which they will fail?

For instance, should a college say nothing if someone who is a very bad musician wants to spend many years and a lot of money pursuing a degree in music performance? What about a person whose math abilities are so bad that he is unlikely to get hired by any engineering firm? In the Indian system you describe, such a person would not get into the university/institution anyway. But I think the question is asking about other types of educational systems in which almost anyone (who has money) can study almost anything he wants to. Should colleges take those people's money and teach them something that will never get them a job?

I think your thesis is that a student's success is everyone's responsibility. If so, then do universities have the responsibility to sometimes tell students to quit and study something else? I do not think you are answering the question, and thus this essay would not score as well as your other one.

Please always make sure to give a clear answer to the question. You do not have to agree or disagree 100%, but you need to be clear. For instance, you could say that universities only have the responsibility to dissuade students when the program of study is explicitly pre-professional, but not when it is for intellectual betterment. (That is one example of a thesis that is taking a more nuanced, balanced position, but is still clear and taking a stand on the issue.)

Sincerely,
Jen

[salil31]

Thanks for your comments, Jen.