Introduction
Education is one of the essential parts of the success of the person living in the modern world (Gebel and Heyne 2014). Throughout history, education has played a crucial role in a person’s ability to become a respected member of society and attain a valuable profession. Therefore, education has always been associated not just with the amount of knowledge it gives but also with the opportunities for achieving financial goals it opens.
In most countries, the modern system of education is divided into several parts, and each of them is vital for moving forward to receiving the highest level of education opening many doors to the students. The fulfillment of graduation requirements is one of the most important steps on the way to achieving education, as it shows the scope of knowledge gained by a student. Equitable and adequate graduation requirements are vital for ensuring the effective functioning of the educational system.
Main body
My friend claims that all students planning to graduate from a certain kind of educational institution should be obliged to meet the same graduation requirements. However, I disagree with such a position, as an individual approach to education is one of the keys to ensuring that educational activities correspond to the specifics of every student. I strongly believe that the educational system should be structured in such a way that can adjust to particular special features of students. Such a method of organizing the education helps to prevent the lack of attention paid to individual characteristics of the students and make the process of attaining knowledge more effective (Limbu par. 6).
I think that graduation requirements should also be based on such an individualistic approach to education. For example, students with certain physical disabilities may be unable to perform certain activities included in the standard curricula for physical education classes. Therefore, they cannot fulfill the graduation requirements related to the subject on the same level as the students who do not have physical disabilities.
Though the importance of physical education should not be underestimated, graduation requirements should be flexible enough to adjust to the needs and abilities of students with particular specifics in physical development (Mohammed and Mohammad 552).
The same refers to psychological and mental development. In my opinion, standard graduation requirements should be modified according to the special features of persons with disabilities that make them different from the rest of the students. On the other hand, students with abilities that are significantly higher than the abilities of the others should be given enough opportunities to develop their talents. However, students with exceptional skills and talents should face the same graduation requirements as the rest of the students. Elevated graduation requirements for such talented students are unacceptable, as such a situation would make the educational system unfair and prejudicial.
My friend also claims that defining the graduation requirements should be left to the education institution. In other words, every educational establishment should be given independence in terms of setting the standards reflected in graduation requirements. I do not think such an approach is effective. In my opinion, if every school or university is given the possibility to set its unique graduation requirements, the educational system can become rather unfair and diverse in a bad meaning.
I believe that there should be the accepted standards set by appropriate ministries and other governmental bodies, which are responsible for defining the main goals of the educational process in the state. To my mind, educational institutions should be required to provide the education that corresponds to a set of standards created by the specialists responsible for guiding the direction of education in the country.
Therefore, graduation requirements should also be accepted at the state level and be relatively similar to all students studying in a certain type of educational institution, with exception of students with certain disabilities, as discussed below. Such standardization of graduation requirements allows the state to control the providers of education and prevent the influence of their subjective visions and opinions on the process of education. Such an approach helps to ensure that all students studying in different regions of the country have the same opportunities to move to the next level of education.
My friend also points to the high importance of setting graduation requirements that correspond to the requirements for entering the next level of education. I strongly agree with this assumption. I think that compliance between the mentioned aspects is the key to ensuring the effectiveness of the educational system. Setting graduation requirements without paying attention to the norms used for assessing the knowledge of applicants to the educational institutions of the next level can be considered thoughtless and not logical. For example, when a person graduates from a high school, he/she needs to possess certain knowledge and skills to enter college or university.
If the graduation requirements for the high school do not match the requirements for entering the college, a person has low chances of demonstrating the knowledge needed to become a college student. On the contrary, if the graduation requirements for the high school match the requirement for entering the college, a person has higher chances to pass the exams successfully. Such an example demonstrates the important role of cooperation between the institutions of different levels of education.
Such cooperation can promote the awareness of the governmental bodies setting the graduation standards of the norms that should be considered during this process for ensuring the highest efficacy of the educational system. Such an approach will give more chances for the students willing to continue with getting the education and increase the number of the population possessing higher academic diplomas.
Another important aspect of graduation requirements is providing fair and equal conditions for all students going through examinations or tests that are crucial to receiving the diploma. Both my friend and I agree that the system of assessment of the results of the exams should be employed by all educators equally and avoid the influence of their subjective attitudes to the students. Besides, we come to the conclusion that informing the students and educators about graduation requirements should be provided in a timely and effective manner. This factor is essential for ensuring that all participants in the educational process are aware of the ultimate goals they need to achieve. It also enables the students to plan their activities so that the chances of receiving the diploma grow.
Conclusion
Graduation requirements are one of the most important factors influencing the educational process, which is the major element of social development (Ravitch par.1). Certain aspects of such requirements should be properly managed to ensure equal conditions for all students willing to receive the diploma and increase the level of quality of education in the country. Setting adequate graduate requirements is of vital importance for encouraging the population to use the opportunities of receiving a good education.
Works Cited
Gebel, Michael, and Stefanie Heyne. Transitions to Adulthood in the Middle East and North Africa: Young Women’s Rising?, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Web.
Limbu, Prem. Individualized Instruction Strategy. 2012. Web.
Mohammed, Heyam Reda, and Mona Ahmad Mohammad. Students Opinion and Attitudes towards Physical Education Classes. College Student Journal 46.3 (2012): 550-566. Print.
Ravitch, Diane. Policy, Responsibility, and Equal Opportunity in Education. n.d. Web.