Discursive Essay on School Leaving Age

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Discursive Essay - School leaving age

The issue of whether the school leaving age should be raised to eighteen has been debated recently in the media.  It is an important issue because it affects future generations and will greatly influence what they can and can not do with their lives. A variety of different arguments have been put forward about this issue. Some people are against raising the school leaving age. I will discuss these views and point to some of the problems with these opinions and why it is vital for the country’s economy and the wellbeing of future generations that the leaving age is raised.

It has been argued that if young people are forced to stay in full time education until the age of eighteen they will not benefit from the two extra years of education as if they are not interested they will not learn and will instead disrupt the learning of those who are keen to further their learning. “If they do not want to be there it may impact on the education of pupils who do want to learn.” - (International Debate Education Association (I.D.E.A.)) However, pupils disrupting classes is not a new problem. Teachers are more than capable of dealing with children who misbehave. Furthermore as young adults progress through life they mature regardless of whether they are in full time education or not.  The discipline involved with full time education will in fact improve the behaviour of the future generation.  Along with the leaving age being raised, there is also discussion of adding a more varied range of course options including more vocational choices for those who are better suited to less academic subjects.  Also a large amount of work experience will be fitted into these courses giving young people the best chance possible of getting a good job when they leave school. Therefore young adults would certainly benefit from this extra time in school and would behave better due to the courses on offer and the discipline implemented in a working environment.

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Another argument is that the diversity planned to be put into the course will be too expensive and not worthwhile.  This argument states that there is a high possibility of taxes being increased to pay for this new education system due to the need to expand school premises for example. However the diversity in the new school curriculum will most certainly be worth whatever small cost.  The diversity will ensure that those who choose more vocational careers have the qualifications they need to succeed. In the future it is very likely that the number of qualifications necessary to be ...

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This is a very well laid out essay, with mostly very good control of complex sentence construction and paragraphing, and with well-presented introduction and conclusion. The range and choice of lexis is well suited to the task As a discursive essay, however, there are many statements that are not adequately supported by evidence or not effectively followed through. There is an overarching assumption that raising the skill base of the workforce will bring national prosperity and no evidence is offered for this. 3 stars