Question: In countries where there is high unemployment, most pupils should be offered only primary education. There is no point in offering secondary education to those who will have no hope of finding a job. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Band 8+ Sample Answer:
(Intro) There is a controversial suggestion that children should only be offered primary education if their country has a high unemployment rate and therefore it is unnecessary to offer secondary education because their chances of finding a job are is limited. I strongly believe this statement has many flaws such as an undefined correlation between education and unemployment . Hence, I do not agree with it.
(Body 1) First of all, we need to understand the reasons behind the high unemployment rate. In many cases, a high unemployment rate is due to the economic situation such as high inflation or the ability of a government to run the economy. Those economic indicators represent the health of a country and likely correlated with its job market. Barring pupils from secondary education does not contribute to the progression of an economy but instead cuts its potential growth rate. For instance, secondary educated pupils should be able to adapt to working environment better than merely primary-educated ones. Furthermore, people with minimum education may seek jobs overseas in developed countries where there is always a need for immigrant labourers. Singapore is a good example where there are a lot of low-educated people working on construction sites and maids working in households. Those overseas jobs are great sources of foreign currency for the home country.
(Body 2) Moreover, the idea that people have no chance of finding a job even if they have completed secondary education contains a major flaw. The Job market is defined by the demand and supply of skilled and qualified labor, and the size of the job market is driven by economy and development. Therefore, people with higher education are preferred, even if those jobs require no education at all and even if the size of the job market is small, there will always be a need for labor for any industry. For example, the demand for labor is always present in developing countries or rural areas. This idea not only doesn’t solve issues with the economy but it also represents the weakness in the government.
(Conclusion) To conclude, a high unemployment rate is an issue of any economy and providing workers with only primary education is not the solution to that problem and doing so may limit the country’s potential growth rate in future. (376 words).
Essay: Student Essay, fully corrected and upgraded by Nick Kemp, former IELTS Examiner.
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