Some people believe that universities should focus on providing academic skills, while others think that universities should prepare students for their real future careers. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
People have different views about whether universities and colleges should concentrate on offering students academic skills or students should be provided with something more useful for their career paths in the future. In my opinion, it would be a good idea if universities could keep a balance between scholarly skills and other helpful skills which are needed for students’ job prospects.
On the one hand, there are various reasons why academic skills should still be the main focus in universities and colleges. First, academic skills are necessary for students who have ambitions to become a renowned expert on an academic field, such as law or economy. Second, scholarly skills and academic knowledge are a sound basis for any other practical work. If students are not taught those skills, they would find it much more difficult to understand the principles of the courses they are attending and this might have a bad effect on their future careers.
On the other hand, universities should also pay attention to helping students to prepare for their work in the future. One of the main purposes of students when entering universities is to start their careers and find a good job after they graduate. The job market in the world is getting more and more competitive and academic skills are not sufficient for people to win a job with even a decent salary. Other skills such as problem-solving or management are equally important and they could not only give them a chance to get better job opportunities but also be beneficial to help them deal with different situations in their daily life.
In conclusion, in spite of maintaining the focus on teaching academic skills, universities and colleges should not forget preparing students for their careers when they graduate.