Universities should accept equal numbers of male and female students in every subject.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Comments about the task:
- An opinion essay
- The topic is not about FORCING equal numbers, just ACCEPTING.
- It’s easier to agree with accepting and I think I would choose to totally agree. Note that it is easy to sound sexist when disagreeing with accepting equal numbers of students.
Plan: Potential Ideas
ACCEPTING
-gender equality/human rights
– Chances of gender discrimination in society will greatly reduce if men and women study together more.
-allow people to follow their passion
-let people choose their career paths
NOT ACCEPTING
-Each gender is suited to different kinds of subjects/careers
-men should have priority because they are the main breadwinner (I would NOT write this though as it is extremely sexist and you may anger the examiner).
More women than men should be accepted as part of affirmative action programs to address the disadvantages women face in society
Model Answer:
It has been proposed that tertiary institutions should accept the same proportion of students to each course. I totally agree with this notion as it is in accordance with the principles of gender equality and it will also serve to create a more harmonious society and reduce gender discrimination.
I believe that universities must accept equal numbers of students from each gender for a particular course that they wish to apply to. The reason for this is because favouring one sex over the other is a form of discrimination, which should not be accepted in any civilised society. This is because it influences the ability for people to pursue careers and have equal rights in society. For example, in Cambodia, where women are not allowed to study at university, they are severely disadvantaged in the workforce and very few are able to establish satisfactory careers.
Another benefit of accepting a similar number of students from each gender is that it will lead to a society with less gender discrimination. The basic logic here is that if tertiary students have a chance to study with members of the opposite sex they will be more likely to be able to interact and communicate with the opposite gender outside of school. For instance, my cousin studied engineering in an almost exclusively male class and as a result, he is very shy of the opposite sex and gets nervous every time he has to talk to a girl.
In conclusion, I absolutely believe that tertiary institutions should accept equal numbers of male and female students in order to avoid sexual discrimination and assure a harmonious society. Therefore, a policy of equal acceptance should be instituted in every country of the world, and any kind of gender-based quotas should be abolished. [296 words]
Language:
Gender = sexuality as a male/female
Equality = people being equal regardless of sex, race, and religion
harmonious society = a peaceful society
gender discrimination = policies that favour one gender or the other
equal rights = having equal chances to things like education and employment
tertiary institutions = universities and technical institutes
abolished: eliminated, eradicated
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Hi,
The ‘benefit off’ should be ‘benefit of’ in the starting sentence of the 3rd paragraph, shouldn’t it?
Yes, I agree and I have changed it. Thanks.
Actually, I always write my opinion essays in a different way (see below).Do you think I can achieve band 7 in writing. Some people think that parents should teach children how to be good members of society. Others, however, believe that school is the place to learn this. Give your opinion
The debate of who should teach our future generation to be good individuals has been a hot topic in news recently. While some people believe that the school is the most appropriate place to learn such things, I completely assert that parents have the major influence on their children and they should teach them the good manners in this essay I will discuss both sides of the argument and I will explain my support to the latter view.
Those who support the idea of teaching school pupils how to be good individuals has their own justifications. The core of this argument is that these students spent a considerable amount of time at school, thus the teachers can teach them the rules and the norms of the society. For example, in Korea, students spend almost 12 hours at school each day, not only learning new knowledge, but also performing their assignment there. It is thought, therefore, that the teachers interact more with their pupils more than everyone, having the chance to teach them society’s norms and regulations to be useful members in the community. Thus, these people have good reasons to believe that educational places are the most suitable ort for this purpose.
Despite the argument above, I believe that parents play a vital role in shaping their children’s behaviour. This is because nowadays the curriculum is full of knowledge and skills that needed to be covered by the teachers, therefore they might have no time to teach the pupils the extra-curriculum things such as manners. Indeed, parents are the first potter in youngsters’ lives as they can easily instill the good behaviour and discipline in their children throughout their lives. A recent study, published by Harvard University, has revealed that almost 60% of our perception to right and wrong is stemmed from our parents or care-givers. Whereas, environment, school, television and friends, all combined, might influence us at only 40%. Thus, as this makes clear, if parents neglect their role, this might have extreme repercussions on both our youths and society.
In conclusion, although educational institutions and teachers can teach our future generation the norms of the society, I believe that parents are the key element of the success in any country, because of their vital guidance, support and advice throughout the lives of their youths
Hi
I have read in ‘Writing Skills A step-by step guide to a high IELTS writing score ‘for opinion essays that I should write:
Introduction: include my opinion
Paragraph 1: one idea to support my opinion
Paragraph 2: another idea to support my opinion
Paragraph 3: look at the other point of view and write one idea or two ideas
Conc.: restate my opinion
Do you think if I did not write the third paragraph regarding the opposite view, it will not affect my task achievement and the coherence and cohesion scores
Many thanks
Laila
1. Regarding the structure for your opinion essay, you should only discuss YOUR opinion and not others point of view.
2. The essay you wrote will not get to 7. You are asked to “Give your opinion”..so it makes no sense to discuss other people’s opinions and so large chunks of your essay are OFF-TOPIC
3. it’s inappropriate to start quoting research percentages; when doing this in academic writing a full reference is required and you can not give this in an IELTS test.
Many thanks for your kind help and comments.