Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed

Education is the most important factor behind the success and over all development of a person. Many countries have a high illiteracy rate making them incompetent in full development. Educational institutes are the driving force behind providing quality education and also honing the various skills of an individual. In a country like India where there are a number of educational institutes with a vast variety of professional courses educational industry has become one of the major industries.

I believe that educational institutes have a major responsibility towards the overall success and development of a student in a particular field. They are responsible to provide quality education to nurture the growth of the student and make them an outstanding professional in their field of choice. They have the resources and the knowledge to help the student in the correct path of success and achievement. But i disagree with the argument that educational institutes have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing field of study in which they are unlikely to succeed.

No matter how learned or knowledgeable a person is they do not have a right to judge anyone. They may be poor critiques in finding the true potential of an individual. Take the instance of michael jordan. He was kicked out of his high school basketball team because his sports coach thought he is a poor performer but later on he became to be known as the brightest basketball player of the country. It may so happen that a person recognize their potential later in the stage of life and hence if demotivated in the crucial years of college , they may grow to develop low self esteem.

The meaning of success is very vast and different from person to person. For some success may mean being rich and monetarily sound, for some it may mean reaching the heights of their creative potential and for some success may mean being socially sound and understanding ones own potential. In India , for example, due to the high poverty rate there are many students who are told from a young age that they are to be the bread earners for the family. This burden to achieve financial stablilty for the family causes many to take up professional courses like engineering and MBBS without much interest so as to be placed good and help to support their family. They may not be brilliant i their field or the brightest mind in their college class but their hunger for money may make them good engineers/ doctors, so to dissuade them from entering a professional life in this field may be a judgmental decision on the part of the educational institute.

If a student is dissuaded they may never make an effort to ever try doing something they are not good at and this will lead to deep impact in their all round development. The fear of being discouraged is such that the student may stop even applying their brains to a problem to solve on their own. It is said that a person only learns from their mistakes. No successful human being would have reached to that peak of success without committing a mistake, accepting it, learning from it and making it right the next time. Thus till the time a student is not given an opportunity to explore their potentials they may never be able t achieve success and happiness.

Thus educational institutes should not dissuade a student from continuing in the field in which they are likely to not succeed but provide various opportunities and platform of growth so that they realize their potential themselves and learn to become better individuals and citizens.