A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position

The recommendation suggests a common curriculum on national level which will require students to study the same till they enter college. This recommendation would be beneficial under certain circumstances and would prove to be disadvantageous under others. It shall be noted that the recommendation shall be considered if the disadvantageous effects are not detrimental for the whole nation.

Firstly, the same national curriculum will ensure that students entering college will have a set of skills that are common for college education. This will help streamline the admissions to colleges and admit students on a fair basis. As, education is strongly correlated to skills, common curriculum will help the government ensure such requirement. In this case, common educational background which will assist students understand topics such as Science, Mathematics, National Language, National and World History builds a basic framework in students entering college. Futhermore, as skills also help in jobs, common curriculum will help ensure that required skills for various kinds of jobs are present in students as they graduate from highschool. An example can be cited from how basic mathematical knowledge is essential for most modern day jobs.

Secondly, common national curriculum will also bolster national unity. Knowledge about common history of nation, spirit of nation building, unity, and common purpose of nation and its philosophies can be transmitted through common curriculum. It is beneficial for a nation to have a common sentiment towards the nation, as it helps towards obtaining greater national unity. Common curriculum will also prove to be easy for the government to regulate the syllabus. If modern situation demands additon of certain topic in syllabus, government can swiftly act towards such recommendation.

However, it shall be noted that this recommendation can be disadvantageous as it does not give room for regional sentiment. After all, a nation is grouping of various regions and regional peculiarities are important for students belonging to certain region to understand their regional societal makeup. Study of regional languages, polity, administration, history, and geography is important. In addition to that, knowledge of local flora and fauna, geographical pecularities, climatic conditions is essential for people of that region. Since, common national curriculum doesn't have room for such information, it is disadvantageous. Furthermore, this also raises problem of students studying irrelevant topics which are not connected to their region. Hence, lack of regional and local knowledge will alienate the students as they learn a lot from their surroundings.

Also, having a common national curriculum will make it susceptible to interference from legislature and the government. The ruling party might manipulate the content to propagate their philosophy for the nation. Since, the purpose of education is to enlighten and encourage people to think on their own, this would prove to be detrimental for the growth of nation and structure of democracy. The scenario portrayed by George Orwell in his book 1984 is a good example of effects of a controlling government. Such an interference, if not kept in check will be malignant for the growth of the nation and its societies.

Furthermore, having common national curriculum till college will be disadvantageous for students who wish to specialize in different streams. Specialization is important for further education. Imparting common curriculum will be imparting students, including interested towards the stream and uninterested, with study of a topic. This is not beneficial in long term, as specialization can help in obtaining goals with less efforts.

To sum up the argument, having common national curriculum will boost national unity, and also help with ensuring that skill set required for college and jobs is present in the students. However, without room for regional and local knowledge, it is disadvantageous and might alienate students as they learn from their surroundings. Further, lack of early specialization and interference from government will prove to be disadvantageous in long run.