Category: IELTS preparation

IELTS Essay: Too much on academic subjects: reasons and effects

Write about the following topic:
Schools these days focus too much on academic subjects rather than sports.
 
What are the reasons behind this trend and how it affects children?
Write at least 250 words.
You should spend 40 minutes on this task.

Sample Answer

Educational institutions today are putting a lot of emphasis on academic achievements of students. This essay will look at the reasons behind this growing inclination towards academics and its subsequent effects on school children.

One of the main reasons is the parental pressure. Parents believe that in the times of cut-throat competition, academic achievements alone can promise a secure future.   Nowadays, employers assess young applicants on the basis of their marks and skills. Students with a higher percentage are often given preference over weak performers. Parents therefore pressurise their kids to do well in studies.

Another reason is that outstanding results of students give a school an edge over others. Results have become a parameter which parents consider while getting their children enrolled in a particular institute. Moreover, majority of the schools these days lack sufficient open space for outdoor sports like badminton, cricket and football etc. If they focus primarily on educational outcomes, they can cover-up this shortcoming without compromising their monetary benefits. This scenario is particularly true in Asian countries.

The enormous pressure exerted by the unduly high expectations of schools and parents has a detrimental effect on the overall development of young children. It not only renders them physically unfit but also makes them mentally overworked. Many of them lose their interest in studies and a few may even drop out of school if they cannot handle it. What is more, in the long run, students still remain unprepared for the real world of employment. They lack presentation as well as communication skills which cannot be solely developed by bookish knowledge.

All in all, the focus of schools towards academics can be attributed to parental pressure, lack of space for sports and other activities and bright business prospects it offers to these institutes. However, it hampers the rounded development of pupils. I personally feel that instead of weighing all children on the same scale, individual differences should be respected and strengths be recognized in order to make them shine.

Writer: Paramdeep Kaur

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IELTS Dehradun Uttarakhand Tel: 8439000086