SET- Speaking part 2- 'school subject' topic by Martin

IELTS Speaking Part 2: 'school subject' topic

Describe a subject that you think should be removed from school education programmes.

You should say
- what the subject is
- why you think it is unnecessary for children to study it
- and explain what you would replace it with.

Today I'm going to talk about Physical Education, which I think is the subject that should be taken out of the school curriculum.

P.E. classes encourage the kids to do physical activities as well as different kinds of sports, which is great and healthy, but I don't think it is necessary to be part of the school program because I believe that every kid can easily do that after school with family or friends. Besides, when I was in elementary school, Physical Education was the class that I always looked forward to because it didn't involve any kind of reading, memorization, or difficult problem-solving tasks, and that meant that my mind was not concentrated and focused enough on core subjects such as mathematics, literature, and the social and natural sciences.

Instead of having Physical Education, I think I would replace it with more hours of foreign language education. It is true that most schools nowadays offer a second language course, but I think the time spent on it is simply not enough. If we look at today's senior high school students, many of them still struggle with the foreign language they have learned for several years, and that's a clear indication of the insufficient class activities or materials offered to them. Take myself again as an example. During my elementary and high school years, my parents had to spend extra money to hire a private English tutor for me, and by the time I graduated from high school, my English level was way ahead of my classmates and I was confident enough to start thinking about attending an American college.

All in all, Physical Education is actually an unnecessary subject and I think schools should devote more time to help students improve their second language skills.