Disclaimer:
AT1 is not mine. I will edit in a revised version on a later date, sometime in the coming week
AT3 is an excerpt from Work & Play A level Comprehension insert.
Conclusion might also be added in.
INTRO
Schools are a most important institution, founded for the purpose of nurturing the next generation. Some believe the current school system affords students adequate instruction for the game of life. Nevertheless, I believe that schools do their students no justice as they do not prepare them for life.
ANTI-THESIS 1
POINT
Schools ready their students for the workforce by arming them with the relevant knowledge and problem-solving skills.
ELABORATION
Schools lay the foundational blocks of math, science and basic reasoning skills which are important for students to operate in a world that is so intertwined with Artificial Intelligence.
EXAMPLE
In the OECD’s PISA ranking for 2016 SG’s students came in NO.1 in the whole world.
EVALUATION OF EXAMPLE
Because of SG’s progressive educational system, many TNCs like to employ Singaporeans.
LINK
Today, we find Singaporeans like Jenny Lee of GGV Capital to be the first woman venture capitalist in the top 10 of Forbes List in 2015.
ANTI-THESIS 2
POINT
Detractors of my argument may aver that school is an allegory for life. If students should learn the rules of the game called school, then they will understand the world.
ELABORATION
Schools prepare the uninitiated for the real world by stating the rules in black and white, and marking the goals and boundaries clearly.
EXAMPLE
“Study hard, bank on the right topics, pray harder and go for tuition if you can afford it,” advise teachers. Schools show students the ugly truth: that to succeed in the rat race, it takes a combination of hard work, smarts, luck, and good financial standing. A straightforward fact of school life is that those who have tuition have an edge over those who do not. The same is true in life – those who have more have it easier.
EVALUATION OF EXAMPLE
It is beyond question: school is eerily similar to real life. When students graduate, they do not enter the rat race, they merely trade scholarly goals for material ones. Playing the markets is not so different from predicting topics. And even if students should fail, money can make problems go away.
LINK
Schools do prepare individuals for life, as long as students master its lessons of shrewdness, they are mentally prepared for what awaits them post-graduation.
POSSIBLE ANTI-THESIS 3
The schoolyard is generally accepted as a vital element in the growth and maturity of students.
ELABORATION+EXAMPLE WEAVED TOGETHER? IDK
When young children play alone with sand and water, or with others in quiet or rough-and-tumble games, they learn the nature of the world they live in and how to relate to their peers. These activities bear a striking resemblance to those of the pups of hunting animals, which avidly explore their surroundings and in mock encounters with their siblings develop the agility and aggression they will depend on for their food. A rank order is soon established in these contests not unlike the hierarchy which emerges even in kindergarten, and although human babies will not literally have to survive in a jungle, the social and physical skills which they learn through play will be essential for their success in the free-for all we call society.
THESIS 1
POINT
Others may propound that schools only teach academic knowledge and fail to teach practical skills for students.
ELABORATION
Life throws everyone curveballs. If one depends solely on their hands to earn a living, incapacitation could lead to job loss and financial hardship, especially worrying when work-related injuries are not uncommon in manual labour.
EXAMPLE
In the event of malignant cancer cells infecting multiple organs, a good whole life policy could culminate of as much as $200,000 pay-out. Similarly, rent income from an earlier investment in property could ease the financial strain, allowing one to rest and recover without stress.
EVALUATION OF EXAMPLE
Hence, a rudimentary understanding of the banking system, as well as personal life insurance policies, is critical for individuals in the 21st century. In this day and age, students should be given a run-down of how to navigate these complexities. Purchasing an endowment policy instead of a good whole life policy is a disaster many would be eager to avoid.
LINK
Hence, schools should teach basic financial knowledge and equip students with a strong foundation in finance.
THESIS 2
POINT
I believe schools fail their charges when they over-emphasise rote-learning and knowledge-based work and neglect critical thinking and positive learning attitudes.
ELABORATION
The introduction of performance metrics was well-intentioned, but it resulted in undesired effects. Instead of increasing the calibre of teachers, it had the opposite effect. Performance related bonuses instead bred a results-focused attitude that is patently regressive.
EXAMPLE
At every level, teachers promote exam techniques such as memorisation of keywords and spotting of questions that are designed to fulfil the short-term goal of scoring As. Other techniques include drilling students with test papers to familiarise them with exam-style questions. Even application questions in the math syllabus (purportedly superior to those in other countries due to a problem-solving approach) are a sham as teachers map out for their students all possible iterations of questions to reduce margin of error in interpretation, but in doing so quash any opportunities for critical thinking.
EVALUATION OF EXAMPLE
Students are thus taught to see the examinations as a hurdle they must clear at all costs within the few years of their education, even if what they learn is only good for examinations and not useful for life. They only know facts and cannot think for themselves without being spoon-fed, which is a dangerous state to be in as one steps out of the protected confines of the educational bird nest and into the turbid seas of uncertainty.
LINK
Hence, schools leave students underprepared to tackle life’s varied challenges.
THESIS 3
POINT
One could also posit that increasingly many schools are fundamentally flawed due to an unhealthy penchant for stratification. An educational ministry focus on helping bright students to achieve their potential has perhaps unintentionally lead to stunted relational skills.
ELABORATION
By isolating academically inclined students into special programmes such as the Gifted Education Programme and Integrated Programme, a profound social divide is created. The immediate problem that arises is the lack of contact between the elite and the masses means that these elite may not be able to relate to other members in the future corporate world.
EXAMPLE
A well-to-do, academically inclined ACS boy in the International Baccalaureate programme will hardly have anything in common with a hard-up ITE student on Financial Assistance Scheme.
EVALUATION OF EXAMPLE
A stratified system is essentially a Pandora’s box: without intermingling, individuals from different strata will not understand what their fellow man values; they will not be able to communicate well to depend on and aid each other; indubitably our neighbourhoods will become a breeding ground for resentment and fear. The social tensions turning society into a powder keg on the verge of exploding. A fractured society is a recipe for an unhappy life, and it has its roots in the environment society grew up in; i.e. schools.
LINK
Therefore, schools currently fail to prepare individuals to have rapport with individuals of different social standing, a crucial life skill.
cool title 