Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and sup

It is not uncommon for many to think that institutes should evaluate the strengths of a young student and make him pursue the course where he is more likely to succeed. In any ideal situation, the odds of success and satisfaction are high, for such a student. However, the reality is riddled with a fair number of factors that collectively affect the success or failure of any student. Besides, there is absolutely no gurantee that the decision makers who urge students to follow a certain path, are always right. The history is abuzz with examples of famous people whose talents could not be noticed and tapped by their schools. These factors leads one to suspect the viability of the decisions taken by educational institutes in selecting study fields for their student.

To begin with, the factors that decide success for a student are manifold, such as health, happiness, satisfaction, and so on. A student would be happier if he/she gets to choose a field of study on his/her own than being someone who barely knows them. While a student might demonstrate a sound knowledge of history and politics, yet he might only want to pursue economics. The student might possess a raft of accolades and experiences in historical debates, quizzes, discussions and might even have better grades in history, than in economics. This would obviously drive the university to persuade the student to go for history, rather than economics. Situations such as this, would be quite the norm if the institute happens to decide for the students. That the institutes would be able to assess every student thoroughly based on only his grades and accolades or experiences, is quite unlikely. Besides, it is usually the university going students who are given the choice of opting for a field. By the time students reach university, they would be in the late teens or past teen age, and would be matured enough to decide what the choice of study they are most likely to excel in. Hence, students should be given the independence to decide for their own careers.
Furthermore, if at all universities decide for the students, concommitant question that arises is, who would take the said decision? First of all, every student is unique in his/her own ways and might have vastly divergent talents or abilities. Just like every student is different, every counsellor or advisor would have disparate perceptives. Decision taken by one counsellor might completely be the converse of what another would think. Hence, if a student is asked to choose maths by one, another counsellor might actually find that the student is more fit for geography. Each might have their own reasons and this might lead to a conundrum as to what the student should actually follow. Secondly, counsellors might not be able to assess all the qualities of a student and might direct them to a completely irrelevant path that might end devastatingly for the student. Besides a student or a person in general might be entirely different from what another person might think of him. Throughout history, we have had examples where people have not really succeeded in noting the true talents of students and young people. For instance, we have famous personalities like Walt Disney who was called ‘unimaginative and dull’, Charles Darwin who was dubbed ‘dreamy and whimsical’ by his father and teachers, Steven Speilberg who was ousted from drama and film school, and of course the hugely favorite actor Hugh Jackman, who too was rejected from a drama school.

Apart from the above, the role of any educational institute should be to guide and educate students. While it may render counselling services to students, it should not make any decision binding on the student. Counselling services should only be provided if the student feels the need for it. When the first educational institutes were set up, the aim was to educate young minds and make them adept at their professions they would follow when they grow up. As time progressed, a plethora of institutes and training schools emerged that provided an array of subjects to suit the variety of student interests. The institutes were not supposed decide for the students, rather, it was the students who decided what subject or institute they would follow. Hence, the very aim that was behind setting up of educational institutes, should stay intact.

To sum up, educational institutes should be instrumental in providing a platform where students can find the independence to follow their dreams, to pursue whatever they think is right for them. If universities are to decide for the student, then it is possible that the desires of the students remain to be fulfilled. Additionally, any university which thinks of deciding study fields for students, would rely on counsellors or advisors to do so. However, just like there are a variety of students with different talents and proclivities, there are a myriad of counsellors with widely differing perspectives. While some may decide one field of study for a student, another might believe that particular field is not right for the student. Finally, although institutes can hire counsellors to help and assist he students who are muddled with career choices or fields of study they need to pursue, yet the former must not decide for the student. The freedom to decide a line of study should rest only on the students.