IELTS Writing Task 2 Opinion Essay Topic: The Best Way to Help Underachieving Pupils

Janice Thompson

4 min read

Updated On Dec 07, 2021

Outline
Sample Essay
Band 9 Sample Essay

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The best way to help underachieving pupils is to have compulsory after school activities which they must attend. This way they will become more involved in school and their grades will improve. To what extent do you agree?

Outline

Essay Type

Opinion Essay

Introduction

Paraphrase the essay topic using synonyms for the used in the question.
Clearly state the view on the topic.

Body

Paragraph 1 – Children who are already burdened with classes from morning till evening will not find after school classes interesting. Instead, they will become more tired, and there is a potential danger of them losing interest in studies forever.
Paragraph 2 – Parents may have divorced, which may have affected the child. So it must be communicated to teachers, and they can compensate by providing a supportive environment in the school which may make the child feel better.

Conclusion

Conclude the essay by summarizing the topic and mentioning the final view.

Sample Essay

Not all children perform well in their academics and secure good grades. There are students who struggle to qualify in their exams. There are many underlying reasons for poor performance. It is the combined responsibility of the parent and the teacher to identify the causes and help them perform better. So I’m afraid I disagree with the fact that they have to attend after school activities compulsorily. It will not bestow any extra intelligence or give them the wisdom and knowledge that they failed to acquire in their regular classes. In the forthcoming paragraphs, I shall delve deep into this issue.

Children who are already burdened with classes from morning till evening will not find after school classes interesting. Instead, they will become more tired, and there is a potential danger of them losing interest in studies forever. Parents should analyse why their child is underperforming. It may be due to family or school environment, lack of natural ability to understand a particular subject, lack of motivation etc. Parents must offer psychological help to these students, find out the root cause and focus on improving the pain areas.

For example, parents may have divorced, which may have affected the child. So it must be communicated to teachers, and they can compensate by providing a supportive environment in the school which may make the child feel better. They may be bullied in the school by peers due to their inability to understand a particular subject. Parents have to talk to their children to find out the mental turmoil they undergo and provide them with the right kind of help. In this case, they can arrange an in-person tutor for that particular subject. Rather than following the herd and dumping after school activities, parents must come up with innovative strategies to help their children.

Although schools promise that they give extra-ordinary coaching in the after school sessions, it is still a mystery why they cannot do it in the regular classes.

In conclusion, parents and schools must strive to find out the causes of underachieving. It may vary from student to another. So paying individual attention, conducting counselling sessions, devising appropriate strategies, along with the support of family and teachers, will help them perform better.

Band 9 Sample Essay

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Poor academic performance, although a common phenomenon, can be the result of a variety of factors. It is widely believed that students who find it difficult to grasp the concepts taught in regular classes should be enrolled in after-school coaching to keep up with their peers. Although such activities are indeed helpful in improving the cognizance of some students, however, such positive results cannot be expected out of every individual. I partially support the idea of getting schoolchildren more involved in after-school activities to improve their scores. In the following paragraphs, I will further elaborate on the topic and support my views.

First and foremost, it is important to understand that a class is comprised of a diverse set of children. Consequently, asking every student to meet the same standard of scholastic proficiency is impractical. Thus, to aid underachieving pupils in raising their grades to the best of their abilities, we must acknowledge the fact that the need of every student is different from another. Thereby, only after analysing the requirements of an individual schoolchild thoroughly, can we prudently judge the necessity of extra classes.

Furthermore, the act of making after-school classes mandatory for students can have both positive as well as negative outcomes. Firstly, the amount of time and energy that schoolchildren spent during the regular school routine must be addressed. Moreover, if a student has to attend an extra class in Mathematics or Science, after a long school day, their minds are bound to get overworked. Accordingly, such strain will not only lead to a schoolchild not learning anything from extra classroom activities but it might also lead to a loss of whatever the student learned during school hours. Hence, the decision of which classes should be made compulsory and which should remain optional should be taken cautiously by the administration.

Although many argue that the utility of after-school classes can be derived from private tutors as well, but such practices might lead to further confusion in a child’s understanding, as the method of teaching used by a tutor and a school teacher might be different.

In conclusion, I would like to say that after-school classes are a beneficial tool to support schoolchildren who are academically slow. Nevertheless, this approach can only be of use if it recognizes every student in the class individually and not as a whole.