IELTS essay sample | Government interference in school syllabi

Essay topic

The subjects that children are taught in schools are decided by the central government. Some people say that teachers, not politicians, should be responsible for this task. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the opinion?

Sample response

In many countries it is common for the government to interfere with school syllabi. Some people think that this is unfair. In their opinion, the lessons taught in schools should be chosen by teachers, and not politicians. I agree with this. Political interference in education will not benefit the students or the nation.

Teachers are subject experts. Because of their knowledge and experience, they are able to choose subjects which are beneficial to students when they go for higher studies. They are also able to choose lessons of the right difficulty levels.

On the flip side, political interference in education can have disastrous consequences. Politicians often rewrite subjects like history and civics to further their own interests. Sometimes this is done to further the cause of nationalism, but most of the times it is done to promote the specific interests of a party. By simply omitting certain lessons from history textbooks, the government can erase the contributions of a particular section of the society or dynasty. Sometimes students are forced to learn the biographies of leaders whose contribution to the nation or the world is negligible. This is a common practice in India. In fact, history textbooks are revised whenever there is a change of power at the center. Politicians only want to promote the interests of their own party. Worse, many of them lack the knowledge or expertise to draft school syllabi.

To conclude, teachers and academicians are the right people to design the syllabus. They know what to include and what not to include. Politicians should not be allowed to interfere in education.