14)Some people believe that university students should be required to attend classes. Others believe that going to classes should be optional for students. Which point of view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer.

Universities have developed many policies to help their students. Whether these policies have helped or hurt students is a matter of some controversy. While some universities have classes that have mandatory attendance, others with optional attendance have allowed students who may not normally have been able to attend classes get a university education. However, the quality of a university education that allows optional attendance is much poorer than those that require attendance. Requiring students to attend classes will also ensure their skills and knowledge are fully developed. Finally, by making it mandatory to attend class, students will learn how to deal with other people once they enter the work force.

First, mandatory class attendance leads to a higher overall quality of education. The overall quality of an education is very important. Students are at university to learn, and universities must have policies in place to make sure they are facilitating student learning. Teachers are the ones that encourage this, and should be allowed to ensure all programs have high overall quality. Without having students attend class on a regular basis, teachers will be unable to fully develop innovative programs that will ensure students are able to meet the needs of industry and therefore be fully employable.

Second, forcing students to attend class will ensure that their skills and knowledge is fully developed. Encouraging teachers to develop innovative programs is only the first step in a high quality education. The primary role of a university is to help students find a job. By forcing students to attend class on a regular basis, teachers will be able to ensure that students have the necessary skills and knowledge to find employment. Attending class on a regular basis will ensure teachers can teach more than just theory. For example, while studying at medical school, a student that did not develop the necessary skills to diagnose people would find being a doctor impossible. In this case it is not possible to gain experience after receiving an education. Some fields, such as medical personnel, require students to have a certain skill set. Attending class optionally would simply be negligent.

Last, students will improve their social abilities by regularly attending class. In life, people are always required to deal with people that they may find disagreeable. Doctors will be required to deal with patients that would rather be somewhere else. Computer programmers will have to be able to diagnose client’s needs rather than just be familiar with the latest methodology. These cases highlight that university students must learn more than just what is applicable to their field of study. Given the increasing complexity of modern life, teamwork has become one of the most common ways of accomplishing complex tasks. Graduates will not be able to pick “team-mates”, and therefore need to be able to deal with other people, regardless of their attitude or outlook on life.

To sum up, a universities primary role is to facilitate student learning and ensure students have the necessary skills and knowledge to find employment. To do this, universities need to make it mandatory to attend class. Mandatory class attendance will ensure students receive a high overall quality of education, fully develop the necessary skills and knowledge, as well as develop the necessary social skills to function in the real world.