Topic 64: Having too many university graduates, good or bad?

Thus, in the past, only those who sought to acquire these benefits proceeded to the various universities in the world. Today, however, men are usually driven to the universities by economic necessity. Few of them seek the true benefits of education, for the growing competition for positions in the various professions has made it difficult to secure proper employment without some university degrees. As a consequence, there are a large number of university graduates today in almost every country.

The advantages of having too many university graduates in a country, however, are many. In my country, for example, the presence of a large number of graduates would enable the government of my country lo find sufficient men to assume responsible positions in the various administrative departments. It would also raise the status of the country in the eyes of the world, as one with a high literacy rate. The efficiency of the administrative organs of the state would also be increased, and in time of national crises, the government could draw on the intellectual resources of the people. Even the younger generation of men would benefit from the contacts with university graduates. They would draw inspiration from the work of the graduates and themselves develop, consciously or unconsciously, some of the mental abilities of the graduates. In other words, the presence of a large number of university graduates would create an atmosphere conducive to the mental development of the younger people in the country.

The various private firms and industries too would benefit from the presence of large number of university graduates in my country. It would facilitate the selection of suitable men for positions of responsibility in the firms and industries. This would contribute substantially to the progress and productivity of the business concerns.

There would, however, also be certain disadvantages in having too many university graduates in my country. The worst of them would be that people without university qualifications would find themselves in a precarious position. Good positions in the various professions would be closed to them. Thus, they would have to be content with humble positions and meagre incomes, Without any prospects of promotion in their respective places of work. Besides, the general drop in salary scales owing to the competition among graduates for position, would further add to the misery of those without university training,

for employers would always look for university graduates, even for low positions.

Another disadvantage would be that those without university degrees would be regarded as ignorant and of no consequence. They would receive little respect, unless they were wealthy. Though the university graduates may not deliberately adopt such an attitude towards them, yet they would always remain sensitive to any remarks upon their abilities. Such a situation would produce a group of disgruntle men, and there would be much unemployment among those without university education, thus giving rise to many problems in the country.

NEW WORDS:

1. confer (v): trao hoặc tặng

2. intellect (n): khả năng hiểu biết, trí tuệ, trí năng

3. discriminate (v): phân biệt

4. consequence (n): hậu quả, kết quả

5. sufficient (adj) : đủ

6. assume (v) : nắm lấy, chiếm lấy

7. literacy (n) : sự biết viết, biết đọc

8. efficiency (adj): hiệu quả, năng lực, khả năng

9. conducive (adj): có ích, có lợi

10. facilitate (v) : làm cho dễ dàng, làm cho thuận tiện

11. substantially (adv): về thực chất, căn bản

12. precarious (adj) : tạm thời, nhất thời, không ổn định

13. humble (adj) : thấp kém, hèn mọn

14. meagre (adj) : nghèo nàn, xoàng, đạm bạc

15. scale (n) : quy mô, phạm vi

16. owing to (prep): do vì, bởi vì

17. deliberately (adv): một cách tính toán, có chủ tâm

18. adopt (v): chấp nhận, thông qua

19. disgruntled (adj): bực tức