Band 6+: Some people think that schools should teach students to be competitive. Others, however, believe that teamwork and cooperation are more important. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Many claim that students need to be taught to be competitive at school, as competition can develop students’ resilience and prepare them for real-world situations. On the other hand, many people think otherwise and claim that it is more essential to foster cooperation at school to prevent unhealthy practice and enhance students’ productivity and soft skills. In this essay, I agree that schools should prioritize cooperation but also foster healthy competition between their students

On the one hand, competitions strengthen students’ mental capacity by exposing them to the higher performance peers, which motivates them to do better at their study and develop their resilience. Furthermore, by competing at schools students can also train themselves to face real-world challenges such as university entrance exams and job hunting where the individuals need to strive for excellence in order to be selected.

On the other hand, cooperation plays a crucial role for students’ personal and professional development. Excessive competition can lead to unethical practice such as cheating and also dishonesty. Therefore, it is important to foster teamwork as the way to reach the goals and not solely focus on individual competition. Additionally, cooperation enhances productivity as the tasks are done more efficiently while individuals collaborate, and also cultivates essential social skills such as understanding and empathy that is highly needed in the workplace.

In conclusion, while competitiveness is beneficial to strengthen students’ mental capacity and real-world skills, excessive competition can lead to negative consequences. Schools should prioritize cooperation while preserving fair competition, ensuring that students help and motivate each other rather than merely striving to outperform their peers.