Dear editor,
I am writing to express my views on the idea about high school students spending one year joining a job experience programme or working, when they have finished their high school education and before they continue with their tertiary education. I believe it is an excellent idea and should be encouraged in Hong Kong. The benefits of this idea and the reasons for parents to support it will be focused in the following.
It is not uncommon to see high school students in the West take a year off for working or joining job experience programmes before they enter universities. If this idea is introduced in Hong Kong, our students will be benefited. The above idea enables students to have a clear understanding about their career. High school graduates have to decide which subject they are going to major in and it is closely related to their careers in the future. However, as students lack job experience, hardly could they clearly know about different professions.
As a result, difficulties are likely to come up when students choose their major or their career path. With the above programme, students are able to gain job experiences before they have to make career decisions. They could explore different kinds of jobs and have fresh understanding about some professions, which could absolutely help them to have a better decision about their future.
The gap year not only benefits students’ career, but also improves their interpersonal skills and enlarge their social network. Students usually study hard for their public exams in the last year of the high school education. It is not surprising to see students lock themselves in their room and study for a few months. After a long time of isolation, some students may become inactive and their social network may constrict. The gap year allows them to expose themselves to the community, where they could meet new people and make friends. This could help students become more out-going and enlarge their social network.
The more important thing is that students have to communicate with people in the workplace, which is an all-new experience to them. They have to communicate with their boss, cooperate with their colleagues and even meet with customers. This experience will improve their interpersonaland communication skills at the same time.
The “gap year” idea does benefit students a lot, and parents, should also support it, because this idea could help their children to become more independent. Parents care about and protect their children. It is common to see parents planning and supervising their children’s studies. Nevertheless, their kids are growing up and they have to work in society. It is impossible for children to rely on their parents throughout their life. Therefore, parents should support their children to take a gap year and work in society. This can let them experience the real life in society and the workplace without parent’s shield and protection. This can train them to become more mature.
Also, after students have working experience, they are able to realize their parents’ hardship and difficulty in earning money. As a result, correct values on money and finance could be imparted to students, which help to prevent them from becoming materialistic in the future.
The “gap year” idea does benefit students a lot in many different aspects. I hope this idea could be encouraged in Hong Kong and I call for the support from parents.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong