Issue Topic:A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for t

The author puts forth the idea of introducing a national curriculum which is to be followed by all the schools nation wide. The author must have thought about various aspects before suggesting this measure, however, he didn't account the practical implementation of the programme and its consequences. As a result I disagree with the authors claim to a great extent. The practical barriers which will hinder the implication of such an initiative are:

Take the example of the fingers on our palm. Are all the five of the same size? Of course not. Each of the fingers has a specific ability which the others don't have and each performs a stipulated function. Moving ahead with the same analogy, a particular country is made up of various diverse regions inhibited by unique human beings. Do all the regions function similarly? No, each has a specific way of conduct which the others don't have. What will happen if we introduce a common curriculum in all the regions and forced the schools to follow them? The idea might not prove salubrious. The students of the underdeveloped region might not be able to cope up and ultimately distant themselves from studies.

A country like India is made up of cities, towns and villages. Agriculture constitutes around seventy to eighty percent of the total employment where as the remaining are in the cities and towns. We all are very well furnished between the infrastructure of a village, town and a city. Issuing a national curriculum will result into the students of the cities to study something which is below their level whereas those from the villages will find it difficult since the curriculum will be at an intermediate level. Instead, it will be wiser to set up curriculums according to the level of students. For instance a particular syllabus can be prescribed for the cities, another for the towns or villages like wise.

Vast countries like Russia and India have different time zones and also diverse geographical and atmospheric conditions. For areas along the sea coast, winter and summer will have a minute difference and on the other hand, those away from the sea coast will have extreme summer and winter conditions. The schools of New Delhi go on a vacation during the month of February-March due to the freezing temperatures and those of Mumbai and the surrounding region are on a vacation in the month of May. For a national curriculum, to be set up, the entire nation should have the same academic year, same timing of exams, etc which is not at all possible. As a result it will be an ill-logical solution.

Inspite of the above drawbacks, the idea does have some benifits too. With a standarized pattern, the students will be competing with the entire nation and eventually will be aware about their rankings at the national level. One single exam will suffice the requirement of testing a students aptitude or knowledge to get an admission in various institutions.

Albeit, the above advantages seem meagre and will turn out to be true only when the curriculum is implemented. But there are few factors which are preventing its implementation and those can't even be over come by man. Hence instead of a national curriculum, I would suggest to implement a standard curriculum in those regions having similar geographical and climatic conditions and thus expand the number of schools studying under the same curriculum.