Role of co-curricular activities in a student’s life

Vijay GarG
 If some were forced to take part, they would be less enthusiastic and spoil the activity for the rest. To be successful, Co-curricular activities need to be voluntary so that they can develop personal development benefits.
Many students, parents and others consider that the academic curriculum is much more important and should be given more status in schools and colleges than the co-curriculum. According to them, educational institutes are only meant to deliver education and awarding recognised qualifications. They also view higher education of a greater importance than the co-curricular when being selected by employers.
There is also a view based on the logic that there is more need for super talented individuals and as such institutes should make specialized individuals in their selected fields. Most modern careers require expert knowledge and skills, which can take years to acquire. Co-curricular activities distract students from developing skills in whatever selected field they have chosen to specialize in. According to them, a doctor or an engineer is known for his or her worth in the job he/she performs rather than being an all-rounder. Therefore they do not require such skills as part of their formal education.
Many co-curricular activities require great expenditure. These require more staff to organize and manage such events. This expenditure is added to the fees of the students which becomes an eyesore for those who are not wealthy enough to afford. High profile institutes deprive deserving students just because they are putting an indirect extra cost which sadly, discourages less wealthy families.
Some believe that co-curricular activities can be pursued even after completing academic education. There is no need to compromise academic education by over-emphasis on non-academic activities when most professions still provide a range of career opportunities. For example, if someone is fond of cultural activities he can pursue these when he/she has achieved the preferred academic goal.
Often co-curricular activities offered by schools are duplicate to those that are already available in the wider community. For example, a school cricket team may deprive the local town’s cricket club of young players, while school adventure activities might weaken NCC or NSS activities. So a strong co-curriculum may have the effect of killing off lots of worthwhile community-based activities because they do not receive school credit.
There is also a concern amongst some that co-curricular activities are already available in abundance outside the school curriculum in the form of clubs, teams, societies etc. So if these are available there is no need to spend money and time in pursuing these activities in educational institutes.
One can also switch career in accordance with his or her interest through evening classes and continuing education programmes which can retrain them.
Many activities are repetitive and are very common. They are observed as a casual affair or as a formality. Therefore these offer no excitement on the part of the students as they aren't interesting enough.
To be contd