Some educationalists argue that non exam arts based subjects such as music drama art and craft should be compulsory in the secondary school curriculum They believe that activities such as these can improve overall academic performance To what extent do yo

It is sometimes argued that secondary school students should be made compulsory arts subjects such as music, drama, as well as art and craft. As per some educators, it can improve students productivity in the other subjects. While I disagree with the idea of making such compulsory arts programmes, I do believe that arts subjects can benefit youngsters.

There are several reasons why I disagree with having compulsory arts programmes for secondary school students. First, the school curriculum has already full with the important academic subjects such as maths as well as natural and social sciences. For example, A 2010 study conducted in Australia pointed out that secondary students in 50 Australian schools have busy timetable and it was not possible to add other extra programmes. Secondly, by having additional class for music, drama, or craft will affect in students’ valuable study time. Ultimately, I believe that the students would be reluctant to carry out any assignment of obligatory programmes.

On the other hand, the opportunity of making arts subjects as compulsory programmes can be extremely positive for some students who have strong passionate about it. A research about this topic in Indonesia which was carried out in 2012 showed that the activities such performing arts, theatrical, or painting lead students to gain other achievements apart from academic accomplishments during their school life. Not surprisingly, the students who often to turn up many arts performances get valuable experiences which quite different with serious learning activities that are only used to focusing on writing, reading, and counting skills. As a results, it will enhance their other abilities.

The aforementioned evidence shows that it is really compelling to put arts subjects into obligatory programmes as students has already had full academic schedule and it will bother the main programmes. Although arts subjects have advantages as it will increase students’ abilities in arts and give them such priceless experiences, I strongly believe that idea about this will bring too much pressure to secondary students. Where possible, children should be taught by balancing both main academic and arts subjects to support the development of their knowledge.