The Importance Of Secondary Education

Words: 1874
Pages: 8

With living costs as high as they are in this day and age, it is completely unreasonable to expect the average individual to squander already limited resources. Receiving a bachelor's degree today requires an assortment of classes that often are not directly related to one's career objectives. For some, they find this to be an enjoyable adventure, broadening their knowledge and learning about new aspects of life, but for others this is just burdensome. However it is looked upon, the college curriculum still requires a diverse selection of courses to develop well rounded, responsible individuals, but in turn creates added pressure upon students.
Is it the job of secondary education to start developing all inclusive students who have

For the narrow sighted college student venturing outside his/her past what is required in general education is not an option. Why you might ask? It is because courses required for majors are so jammed packed that once you get into the upper division courses, adding leisure classes may be stressful or may cause an individual to be in college an extra year. Zinsser looks down upon this way of thinking and blames employers for this mindset students have. Zinsser says: Long gone are the days of the ‘gentleman's C,' when students journeyed through college with a certain relaxation, sampling a wide variety of courses- music, art, philosophy, classics, anthropology, poetry, religion- that would send them out as liberally educated man and women. If I were an employer I would rather employ graduates who have this range and curiosity than those who pursued safe subjects and high grades. (449)

Zinsser believes well rounded individuals should get the jobs over the specialist. In reality the job market is highly competitive and the specialist will get the job because they are more qualified on paper. Is this system fair? Not always, but in some cases it is necessary. When you are on the operating table you'll want a specialist to do your surgery, not a cultured citizen. Not only are there pressures on individuals to get in all the classes they need to graduate in four years, but there are also