Dear Editor,
I would like to express my opinion about Liberal Studies. There have been heated debates on whether it should remain as a core subject. Being a senior form student, I admit that Liberal Studies is never an easy subject to handle, which also adds burdens to teachers. However, in my opinion, the subject is constructive to students as well as the whole society, so it should not be an elective subject but a compulsory one.
First of all, Liberal Studies arouses concern on social affairs among students, encouraging them to express their views and discuss the hot issues with each other. Because of the requirement of the curriculum, students need to read newspaper regularly to catch up with the latest affairs, which will also broaden their horizons. Teenagers, who are sympathetic towards the underprivileged, concerned about social injustice and so on after discovering problems this city is facing, are more willing to voice out through different channels, such as staging a rally or posting their views on social network. They will have more concern about what is happening around their community and country, caring more about the needy. Therefore, the society as a whole will benefit.
Besides broadening students’ mindsets, student will improve their communication skills and critical thinking. In Liberal Studies class, we students need to exchange our ideas during the lesson time and need organization skills to explain our views with valid arguments which should be easily understood. Students, therefore, will find it less difficult to express their ideas to the others and to make judgment on different issues overtime with this training. This surely adds an edge to their competitiveness.
No doubt, there are still problems learning this subject as the workloadsof both students and teachers are heavy. The complicated curriculum and its demanding requirements should not be neglected, either. Yet, the Education Bureau could explore ways to help like adopting a coursework- based grading system rather than an exam-based one , rearranging the current topics into simpler modules, or providing more training to teachers to eliminate unnecessary workload and stress of all.
In the long term, Liberal Studies is beneficial to students and the whole society, so it should be suitable for all students to study and remain a core subject. Let’s not give up so easily.
Yours faithfully
Pat
Pat Li,
Mong Kok