Some people think colleges should provide knowledge and skills related to future career; others think the true function of colleges is to give access to knowledge for its own sake. Discuss both points of view about the functions of colleges.

Some individuals assume that it is more essential for higher education to supply

knowledge

and

skills

needed in the workplace,

while

others believe the primary

function

of tertiary education is to give access to

knowledge

for its own sake, including academic

knowledge

.

This

essay believes that colleges fulfil both purposes. The essay will first discuss the

function

of

knowledge

and

skills

related to the future careers of students. Most undergraduates' purpose in entering tertiary schools is to get better occupations with higher salaries,

whereas

only a few aim at academic jobs like scientists, archaeologists, scholars, etc. Because of that reality,

knowledge

and

skills

based on experiences are of great importance in the workplace later. As we see, almost all companies and employers are most interested in work experience, of course,

this

is impossible to have for recent graduate students, so we ought to concern about the same priority factor: practical

knowledge

and practical

skills

. It would be very helpful if

this

is taught at colleges. The fact that youth are continuously added to companies and businesses

also

promotes economic development. One illustration is that countries which have high young population proportions are tending to develop increasingly

in contrast

, others which have lower proportions have to face acute labour shortages, likely to fall into an economic crisis if that situation lasts.

Although

there are not many people think of their careers as academic researchers, we are not able to ignore them. The main reason is that research jobs

also

contribute a huge part to society

as well as

the economy. During human history, great changes and developments mostly stem from the inventions of inventors or studies of scholars, etc. These are the most convincing evidence of the particularly important role of researchers. Until now, academic research is still an integral part of social and economic development, so we need people with a deeper understanding of theories to do

this

. In conclusion, both practical and academic

knowledge

is useful for the future careers of students.

Thus

, no one can affirm which is the main

function

of colleges. And in my opinion, I suppose what suits undergraduates best is the best thing to teach, so that, the primary

function

of higher education must be to help undergraduates find what suits themselves and grow it strongly for the sake of balanced development in society.