Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? High schools should allow students to study the courses that students want to study. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

As the

last

leg of schooling education preceding university, high school should ideally be a platform for

students

to garner primary knowledge pertaining to their prospective field of study. It is

thus

argued that these institutes should permit their pupils to take up courses that they are interested in. I strongly agree with

this

statement, recognising that the aforementioned would allow the

students

to gain a basic foundation for their future studies

while

ensuring a genuine interest is maintained in academics.

To begin

with, obtaining basic knowledge in subjects closely related to university studies makes the latter a more smooth-sailing experience for university

students

. Allowing high schoolers the freedom to take up courses of their choice would lead them to choose the subjects that are most relevant to their future-to-be curricula, providing suitable background knowledge for the student before they move on to their undergraduate years and associate . As a matter of fact, most universities now even have

subject

prerequisites for each course in order to ensure that the child has acquired an understanding of the basic concepts which pivot the higher level of education provided in their preferred career stream. The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is one

such

example of an international high-school curriculum which allows

students

to choose a range of

subject

combinations that suit their future studies the best. Universities too, recognise

this

curriculum widely and appraise it for its flexible structure that allows

students

to study all the relevant content prior to college.

Moreover

, allowing sophomores their preference for

subject

combinations maintains a genuine interest towards academics, which in turn benefits their attitude towards studying. Research has shown that children pursuing courses of their choice in high school are more likely to end up with better grades. To me,

this

is quite self-explanatory. When studying a

subject

that we genuinely enjoy, we tend to desire to put in higher efforts in maintaining academic prowess, and that often translates into a stunning academic record, which is very beneficial for a student's resume too.