IELTS WRITING TASK 2 - FUNCTION OF UNIVERSITY

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?

As one of the repercussions of economic downturn, unemployed rate has been maintained in staggering high, which simulates individuals’ rebuke for the role university plays in a man’s life. Some people reckon that it is only the knowledge to be utilized in one’s career that should be taught in the tertiary education, while others believe that it is justifiable for the university to distribute knowledge for its own sake. As far as I am concerned, however, both of the views are controversial.

On one hand, the latter assertion that only skills itself should be given, seems to put a negligence in the fact that the purpose of education is to foster such kind of people that they could devote their own contributions to our society, rather than those who waste time on digging into the theory that could sparsely be productive. On the other hand, the former opinion makes more sense, because it, at least, is more practical, which is beneficial to both the student and the society in terms of materialism, a pervasively accepted value at this time of age.

In my perspective, unfortunately, neither the mercenary-oriented nor the knowledge-oriented view is the best choice. Personally, I hold the assertion it is the methodology, namely how to learn, that students should be taught in their tertiary education, in that there may be one day when what we have learned are rendered obsolete. Nevertheless the significance of abilities to learn will never dwindle away,

All in all, admittedly, some merits do lye in the former views, yet leaning how to learn will benefit for the long run.