Sunday, July 13, 2014

TOPIC: Some people believe that secondary school children should study international news as a subject. Others say that this is wasting time. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

It is claimed that international news should be added into the curriculums of secondary schools. While some people advocate this, I hold a contrary opinion on this matter.
There are some people who are in favour of making international news a compulsory subject in the curriculum of secondary schools. As the world becomes more open, it would be more necessary than ever before for children to know about what is happening in the world. However, the effectiveness of this practice should be carefully considered because secondary students are often too young to understand news, and they tend to forget the information once the exam is over.
On the other hand, teaching secondary school children about world news would mean that they have less time to learn about core subjects such as Maths and Physics, which are proved to be more important to their education. Furthermore, international news could be soon out of date, even before curriculums are completed. Therefore, news that children learn is actually stale, and this can be viewed as a waste of time.
Of course, I do not imply that teenagers should be isolated from international news. On the contrary, I suggest that secondary school children can access a great source of information through the internet and television, provided that they find it helpful. However, this does not mean that educators should include international news in the school curriculums.
In conclusion, I tend to believe that international news should not be considered to be a subject at the level of secondary education.

(255 words)