Some People Think That Universities Should Provide Graduates With The Knowledge And Skills Needed In The Workplace | Band 8 IELTS Essay Sample
Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer. What, in your opinion, should be the main function of a university?
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Band 8 IELTS essay sample
Universities are a place for acquiring higher levels of education. Some people think that the knowledge they impart should be adjusted according to the requirements of the workplace. Others argue that universities should only offer education regardless of whether it is useful or not for employers.
In my opinion, universities are the places to acquire skills that improve the employability of a student. In order to acquire knowledge, one does not have to go to university. One can acquire it by reading books, magazines or websites. A great deal of information is now available online and one only has to browse the websites to access it. For example, if someone is interested in learning about European history, they can find numerous books in public libraries. There are also numerous websites that provide this information. Traveling is another way to acquire knowledge.
By contrast, the job market requires certain skills that can only be acquired from domain experts. Universities are the right places for this. Knowledge alone does not feed anyone. It has no real value if it does not enable a person to secure a job. Very few people can have the luxury of spending 4 or 6 years at university only to graduate in a subject that is not valued by employers. Hence, in my opinion, the main objective of university programs should be equipping students with the skills required to find a good job.
To sum up, universities are certainly the places to acquire knowledge but that knowledge will be valuable only if it equips students with the skills they need to perform well at the workplace. Hence, I do not agree with the argument that universities should offer knowledge just for the sake of it.
Band 8 essay sample 2
Nowadays, it is often claimed that university curriculum should simply focus on imparting knowledge. On the contrary, a growing number of people, including myself, are of the opinion that universities should prepare students to enter the future job market by offering information and skill training courses. I will explain the rationale behind both sides as well as my point of view in the following paragraphs.
Universities’ main focus, according to those who espouse the former opinion, is helping the students to gain knowledge in particular fields. They prepare and present a syllabus based on the university rules to give sufficient information about a chosen curriculum without bothering about its usefulness in the real world. Hence, students pursue the course with the sole objective of enhancing their knowledge. Now the art of putting all this knowledge to practice at the workplace is something that students have to master on their own. Therefore, most of the graduates need to opt for apprenticeships or probationary offers meanwhile or after school to gain required skills and experience in a particular field.
However, in my opinion, the primary objective of any university program should be helping students find a good job. I firmly believe that universities’-reputation should be assessed by the programs they offer. Providing students with the knowledge and the skills they need for their future career success should be the priority goal of any education system. Students are applying to a university mainly because they want to find a proper job, and they would choose a university with high employment rates for graduates. Moreover, if someone just wants to gain some knowledge about a particular subject, they can read a book or research online. They do not have to attend university just for the sake of gaining knowledge. Therefore, the objectives of a university need to be helping prospective job seekers to gain required skills.
On the basis of the reasons mentioned above I am convinced that even though university curriculum should be based on providing students with sufficient information, their main aim needs to be preparing them for the job market.
