In a modern and ever-developing world, graduated students have faced difficulties to acquire their dream occupations due to their industries’ demands getting higher and higher. Some think students should be taught skills; otherwise, others think having a wide range of subject is better for their future. In my essay, I will discuss both above sides and give my opinion.
Let’s start with learning skills, students should be taught practical skills to improve their problem-solving skills. Indeed, practical skills training gives students chances to expose to hands-on activities and practical problems, which in turn helps them better in analyzing more complex real-world situations. I believe my internship in the midsummer 2023 at Vimico as a material engineering student is a good example of that matter. In there, I learned about working mechanism of metallurgical furnaces, and applied our theorical knowledge to produce high-purity copper sheets. After that, I have a solid knowledge about performing metallurgical devices that helps me a lot in my scientific research journey. Moreover, pracical skills boost students’ confidence in handling difficult problems and give them a sense of self-efficacy, which help them express their thoughts better in work places.
On the other hand, schools should teach students a range of subjects to help them have more opportunities to expose their desired fields. In some Asian countries, parents just want their children to work in some “notable” vocations such as doctor, lawyer, computer programmer, and so on that accidentally perish their children’s passion. I have a friend who studied and earned a Bachelor degree from School of Material, an engineering school, and ended up joining a music band to develop his career. As one can seen, if he used 4.5 years to study at a music school instead, his career would be more secured. Learning a wide range of subjects gives us a “T-shaped” skillset (the vertical bar on the T showing deep knowledge of one’s expertise, and the horizontal one showing a wide range of knowledge in other industries). The “T-shaped” skillset not only makes students become experts in their specialized fields, but also gives them the ability to collaborate with experts in other fields, which in turn promotes their fame and social network.
In my personal viewpoint, both sides have rational reasons to be considered as appropriate methods to develop students’ future. However, we should balance between training practical skills and teaching subjects for children to harness all benefits of those ways because every job needs practical skills to carry out their tasks, confidence to express their constructive ideas, and a wide range of knowledge to perform those thoughts effectively.
All in all, both real-world skills training and subjects teaching give students various advantages including becoming confident problem-solvers, and experts in their fields. For me, combination of those methodologies can obtain their most important good points and student’s future career will develop even brighter.