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Question: 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 supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position. Response: Proponents of modern education have touted the necessity to help children build their futures, apart from imparting skill and knowledge. However, a close examination of methods of education in various educational institutes reveal that the latter has been achieved, but the former is yet to be materialized. Thus educational institutions should strive diligently towards helping students to identify their successful fields. Today’s educational systems have done a commendable job in opening up students to different fields like science, philosophy, literature, arts etc. But mostly, students choose what they perceive as better and a field that can assure them of a good job with a decent remuneration. Very few have sought their passion. In today’s world of computers, students pursuing studies in the IT field have increased exponentially from those a few years ago. These concentrations have arisen due to their promising factors, but are these fields sought by the students with genuine interest? The consequences being job dissatisfaction, unsuccessful careers, frustration and guilt. Finally are we not compromising on the productivity of the nation? To avoid the consequences mentioned above, educational institutions have a very important role to play. Academic interests of a student of an institution may not be coherent with others. Whilst few have caliber in research, a few might be interested in teaching or engineering. Thus it becomes important to nurture students in those fields in which they could excel. Though it might sound like a colossal venture, these academic shades of differences would be more perspicacious through a small project, a group activity, a simple presentation by students or interacting with the students. Like the classroom session meant to enhance the knowledge of a student, an interactive session could probably dissuade a student from choosing the wrong field. Educational institutions, especially the ones which were established a few hundred years ago can significantly help students in this regard. These educational institutes have witnessed numerous failures in their past. They could use the lessons learnt from their past to guide students to a brighter future. Institutes like the Harvard University in the US, the Oxford University in UK had been set up way back in the sixteen hundreds and twelve hundreds respectively have enough experience to help students. Moreover, education nowadays are very costly. If a physics major student opts for several courses in biology then not only will it cost him more, but he will also take a longer time to graduate. He could be able to reduce his length of study in college by making the appropriate choices of courses and also graduate within a lower budget. If educational institutions are to encourage students to pursue studies in suitable fields, then the procedure for counselling the students should be flawless. If the system to understand the potential of a student is faulty, it would do more harm than good and could ruin the career of a student who otherwise might have been very successful. Some educational institutes could attempt to persuade students to take up certain fields which could help the institute financially. Therefore students should always take a second opinion before making the final decision. While now it may be clear that educational institutions have a significant role in dissuading students from pursuing unsuitable fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed, it should also be apparent that the long term benefits would reward the efforts taken. Further, this simple step would help in the personal growth of the student and would be beneficial for the nation.