GRE® essay: The purpose of education...

[Vu Bao Giang]

It's me, once again. I wish I could know to what extent is my essay accepted.
Thank you for your contribution!
The purpose of education should be to create an academic environment that is separated from the outside world. This kind of environment is ideal because it allows students to focus on important ideas without being held back by practical concerns.
Education, the cornerstone for the sustainable development of any society, has raised concerns among people about its real purpose. However special this purpose is, it can not be only to create an academic environment, separated from the outside world. Contrary to what the followers of this idea think, focusing on scholastic matters regardless of practical concerns may lead to counterproductive results. And that can not be an ideal environment for students.
It should be approved that an academic environment is beneficial to students during their process of attaining knowledge. The information taught to them is often conveyed logically according to the syllabus. This undeniably enriches their background understanding. Moreover, most lessons are confirmed by the authority, therefore reliable and save students’ time on examining.
In thorough analysis, however, this totally academic environment has its own downsides, which would overturn the upsides if not handled carefully.
Isolation from the outside world makes students ignorant of the complex reality, which is neither fully reflected in books nor vividly reported by teachers. This leads to irresponsible reactions towards the wealth fare of human beings, of whom they are a part. How can indifferent and insensitive intellectuals serve their community effectively, then?
Furthermore, in an ivory tower immune to practical concerns, students have little chance to achieve significant breakthroughs. It takes no effort to cite out some geniuses, who challenged obsolete theories and introduced their conventional ideas to the world. Yet, once students feel no impulse to scrutinize a “guaranteed” piece of information through experiments and researches, their creativity may be restrained. With an inactive perceptive skill, it is doubtful if they can make use of their potentials.
Last but not least, all students are supposed to graduate and enter the labor market. If they only focus on theoretical ideas, unaware of the delicate reality, they may appear as dogmatic scholars. Such institute fodders can hardly meet the demand of the workplace, where hand – on experience and true benevolence are preferable. In this case, they are unlikely to become successful bread winners.
In summary, academic knowledge is only useful when it is applied to serve reality. Therefore the idea of separating students from the outside world seems to need more serious consideration. After all, education helps uncover and activate people’s hidden strength. During this process, academic knowledge plays as the leading touch, while real – life experience build up the unique road. These two factors are, hence, interdependent and inseparable.