There is an ongoing debate over whether students should study international news in secondary schools as an additional subject or whether this is a waste of valuable school time. I side with people who believe that studying international news in secondary schools would be a waste of time.
Learning international news as a separate subject would be beneficial to some extent. Understanding what happens worldwide helps people develop a solid understanding of the causes of pressing issues such as climate change or international conflicts. If they learn this knowledge, they may grow into adults who know not only what happens in the world, but also the causes of these kinds of pressing issues.
These arguments notwithstanding, I disagree with this view that schools should explain more about international news; I think it would be a waste of time. Instead of learning extra subjects, students should learn more about their career-oriented subjects, such as mathematics and science – these help students find better job opportunities and clearer pathways. Learning about career-oriented subjects require students considerable time and energy, so adding new subjects may lead to distraction of the students.
Moreover, students may know about current affairs outside the schools through social media, and news can easily be consumed. In the digital era, everyone has access to gadgets such as phones, tablets, and computers; these tools help students to learn deeper about international news.
To conclude, the view that schools should teach students about international news holds some merit. However, I think this is a waste of valuable school time because in secondary schools students should learn deeper about their STEM subjects, as they provide students with well-paid jobs and clearer pathways.