Some educationalists think that a programme of international exchange visits will offer various benefits for teenage school students. Do you think the advantages of it outweigh the disadvantages?

Several education scholars consider that school teens will be greatly benefited from international exchange programmes. While it has its fair share of pros and cons which would be discussed in

this

essay, I believe that the positives certainly outweigh the negatives in the long term. The biggest advantage of studying in a foreign nation is the exposure it offers to the students. As learners, they get to experience a different culture and get an understanding of the differences and similarities in how people live in different countries, which helps them to develop social and practical skills at an early age.

For example

, studying in the USA helped me learn that people here like to live in nuclear families whereas in India people prefer joint families, which is a big factor that shapes their thinking. Another benefit of foreign schooling is that it makes adolescents more confident in life. Living away from their parents offers more independence to young teens where they learn to live on their own and develop confidence in their abilities to manage their lives.

For instance

, most students often get better at managing their finances when they opt for studying in a foreign country. Having said that, there are certain potential downsides associated with international exchange programmes.

Firstly

, there is a high risk of students wasting their time owing to the greater freedom they enjoy living away from their parents. A classic example is that youngsters may end up spending too much time partying with their friends rather than learning anything during their foreign visits.

Secondly

, opting for foreign education is a costly affair and it can easily result in big outstanding loans for the guardians managing study for their children. To exemplify, it takes almost 20 lakhs of rupees for one to spend even a single semester in school in the USA, which can dent a big hole in the parent’s pockets. To conclude, though affordability and wasteful usage of resources by youngsters in foreign schooling are major concerns, the benefits of acquiring social skills and developing independent thinking from the school level certainly make the positives more appealing.