Should-class-attendance-at-university-be-mandatory

20130201060黄文婷Shouldclassattendanceatuniversitybemandatory?Ihavebeentouniversityforaslongastwoyears.WhatIheardofthecomplaintsofmypeersmostwastoomuchclasses!What’sworse,youcan’tskipthemforit’smandatorytoattendthoseclassesandevensomeonewouldtrackyourattendance!Somepeoplethinkitridiculous,claimingthatstudentshavetherighttomanagetheirtimeastheyseefit-evenifthismeansmissingclass.However,thereisalsooverwhelmingsupportforcreatingmorestrictattendanceguidelinestoensuretheattendancerate.Theyholdtheviewthatit’sstudent’sdutytoattendtheclass.Asforme,ImustconfessthatIamstronglyagainstthelatter’sopinion.Ireallythinkthatclassattendanceatuniversityshouldnotbecompulsorybecauseuniversitystudentsaresupposedtoandmusthavefreedomandflexibilityduringtheirstudiesasmatureadults.Itmustnotbeunfamiliarthatwehavealwaysbeentoldtothink,actandpursueourownstudiesautonomously.Butthatisalmostimpossiblesincewemustattendsomanylecturesandwedon’thaveourowntimeenoughforindependentlearningatall!Imustsaythatsucharequirementthatstudentsmustattendlecturesis,tosomeextent,againstindependentlearning.Actually,universitystudentsarefullycompetenttoarrangetheirownstudiesinamoreeffectiveway.Asamatureadult,wecanweighuptheprosandcons,soit’snotnecessarytomakeustoattendthelectures.Ifoneskipstheclass,hemusthavesomethingmoreimportanttodothanattendtheclass.Asuniversitystudents,weareautonomouslearners,notanimalsfedbytheowner.Wehaveandoughttohaveourownthoughtsaboutlearning.Ofcourse,iftheprofessorsofthelecturesareveryhumorousandwecanlearnalotfromthem,wewouldnotcaresomuchaboutourindependentlearning.Wewouldlovetoattendtheirclasses.However,somelecturesarenonsenseandthatweareabsolutelynotinterestedin,yetwestillneedtoattendthembecauseit’scompulsorytodoso.Thatisunbearable!Iconsideritmeaninglessandjustawasteoftimeforthestudents.Now,youmightarguethatonewouldneverknowwhathemighthavelearnedifhehadn’tattendedtheclassesatall.So,doyoureallythinkthatweshouldspendourprecioustimeinpursuingthepotentialityoflearningsomethingthatmightbealittlebitfromthelecturesratherthanreadbooksandthinkindependently?Accordingtomyobservation,mostofthelecturesthatareboringthemselvesdon’tplayagoodeffectonstudentsundertheconditionthatthestudentsaremadetoattendthem.Mostofthestudentsaredoingtheirowestuff-finishingthenumeroushomeworkbeforedeadline,flirtingwiththeirboyfriendsorgirlfriendsthroughmobilephone,dozingofforjustbeingabsent-minded.SoIreallydon’tseethepointtomakestudentsattendtheclassesthattheydon’twanttoattendatall.Inaddition,it’salsogoodtothelecturersifclassattendanceatuniversityarenolongermandatory.Youmightbeconfused-wouldn’titbebetterthatmorestudentsattendher/hisclassfortheteacher?Actually,mostteacherswouldrathertheirstudentsskiptheclassesandlearnbythemselvesthanbeabsent-mindedandlearnnothingfromtheirclasses.What’smore,itwouldbemucheasiertohandlestudentsiflessfortheteachersinmanyways.Fromwhathasbeendiscussedabove,weknewthatit’sawasteoftimetoattendsomelecturesandstudentscouldhavespentthosetimeonstudiesmoreeffectively.Italsowouldbeawin-winsituationforbothteachersandstudentsifit’snotmandatoryforuniversitystudentstoattendtheclasses.