Should Service Learning Be a Requirement for College Graduation - Essay Example

In such programs, students work with communities to solve real-life problems, which not only helps them learn their role as citizens but also inject a sense of social responsibility in their minds. Service learning is of two types, which include directly concerned and not directly concerned service learning programs. In directly concerned programs, students are engaged in activities, which are related to the educational major whereas in not directly concerned programs, students need to provide their services in such programs, which have no direct concern with the educational majors of the students.

Let us come to the point that whether service learning should be a requirement for college graduation or not. I firmly believe that it should be a part and a requirement for college graduation due to a number of reasons. One of the major reasons is that service-learning programs enhance learning abilities of the students. Such programs not only improve students’ critical thinking and decision-making abilities but also prepare them for future because students may need to do such work at some point in future.

Through participating in such programs, students learn the ways to apply their skills and knowledge to real life problematic situations, which they may encounter in their professional lives. Service learning makes students prepared for their future professional roles and responsibilities. Such programs make students aware of the workplace environment at an early stage, which helps them adjust in any workplace environment in a very short span of time. Such programs enhance personality development of the students and improve their workplace skills and abilities.

Service-learning programs allow students to translate their theory learning into practice, which is a very positive aspect of service learning. Service learning not only provides opportunities to the students to get experience of real work but also help them enrich learning and renew communities. Colleges and universities should maintain such resources, which they can use to provide learning opportunities to the students. Service learning has become a necessity for the success of students in professional life.

Today, many of the students struggle when they enter their professional lives because sometimes they are not mentally equipped with the workplace environment that is provided to them and sometimes they take a lot of time being trained for the job. Service learning eliminates all such possibilities by preparing students mentally for work. One more thing, for which service learning seems essential at college level, is that it enables students identify the roles, which they will need to play in society in future.

When students engage in community activities, they become aware of their social roles and responsibilities in a very young stage of life. It is a fact that a society can sustain its existence only if its citizens, both young and adults, are aware of their roles in the society. Service-learning programs serve this purpose very well. Opponents of service learning say that such programs are unnecessary because they are not relevant to the educational majors of the students. They say that sometimes students who have selected management as their major are selected for the service-learning programs in which they have to take care of patients is the hospitals.

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