The subjects that children are taught in schools are decided by central authorities. Some people say that teachers, not politicians, should be responsible for this task. To what extent you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Sample Response
While some people argue that the decision about what subjects are taught at school should be decided by teachers. I believe that it is rather the responsibility of governmentsrather governments’ responsibility to decide.
There are many reasons why the decision aboutof school subjects should be madetaken by central authorities. Firstly, governments have a better understanding of societya better idea about the society and the economic needs of the people. Their knowledge is built upon studies, research and experienceexperiences gathered by experts from different fields. For example, in Sudan, the school curriculum was revised in 2000has been changed to a new one since the year 2000. To involve more subjects that teach students practical skills such as farming, as a measurement to tackle the unemployment problem in the country. Secondly, teachers should be more focused on how to deliver instructionconcerned about how to deliver the information. They decide when and how to teach several subjects based on their experience ofabout children’s capabilities. In other words, teachers are more experienced with teaching than with social or economic issuesin teaching than in social or economic issues.
On the other hand, the authorities’ role is to ensure the highestbest quality of schooling throughout the country. They compare different schools to identify their educational resource needsknow their needs of education resources in order to reach the desired standard of educationthe aimed level of education. However, it would be difficult to identify those needs if each school has its own curriculum for its unique requirements. In addition, if school teachers decide what subjects are to be covereddecide what are the subjects to be covered then we would have a situation of excessive variationtoo much variation in standards and qualificationsqualification, which is obviously unfair becauseobviously unfair, because some young children, for instance, would receive a better education than others as a result of this and in turn people might lose their faith in the education system in the country.
In conclusion, it seems to me that both governments and teachers have their distinctive rolesrole in education. However, it would be more beneficialit would more beneficial for the society if governments remain responsibleare kept to be responsible for setting school curriculasetting schools’ curriculum.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The essay maintains a clear preference for central control and supports it with relevant arguments about national needs, teacher expertise, and consistent standards. Its main limitation is language control: sentence fragments, awkward collocations, and one very long final body sentence weaken otherwise logical development. Prioritise turning the Sudan example into a complete cause-and-effect explanation and expressing the division of responsibilities between governments and teachers more precisely.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A clear position is maintained and supported by relevant points about national planning, teacher expertise, resource allocation, and consistent standards.
Develop the Sudan example more explicitly by showing how centrally selected practical subjects addressed a documented national employment need.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay has clear overall progression and appropriate paragraphing, although ‘On the other hand’ mislabels a supporting point and the final body sentence is overloaded.
Group the government-planning reasons separately from the teacher-role argument and divide the long standards sentence into two linked claims.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficient range of education and policy vocabulary, but inaccurate collocations occur regularly despite generally clear meaning.
Use natural forms such as ‘curriculum decisions’, ‘society’s economic needs’, ‘a measure to tackle unemployment’, and ‘educational resources’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of sentence types is attempted, but fragments, missing words, agreement errors, and faulty clause structures recur throughout.
Repair the opening and example fragments, then check forms such as ‘it would be more beneficial’, ‘distinctive roles’, and ‘school curricula’.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The subjects that children are taught in schools are decided by central authorities. Some people say that teachers, not politicians, should be responsible for this task. To what extent you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.