13/03/2014
How to select subjects for O Level?
Students need to choose subjects for O Level carefully and intelligently. Some students choose courses by consulting parents or teachers. Others rely on their own good judgment. Whatever the mode of selection, students must realize that the chosen courses must reflect their key areas of interest be it mathematics, food and nutrition or biology. Also, another major factor that must be kept in mind is the future prospects for the selected courses. In Pakistan, girls opting O Level generally take the courses which are of interest to them and in which they can easily get a good grade. For young boys, the choice of courses is binding, and needs to be taken by having a look at a lot of factors.
Firstly, the highest demand for a job market, for instance, most boys would either take engineering or science courses, or even accounting, since the job market is healthy for these types of jobs. Secondly, the areas of interest for each individual child are another key factor. Cases in Pakistan are frequent in which children select courses under peer pressure and then succumb to the overwhelming work load. Such children will never be able to lead a successful life in terms of their career and job prospects.
Apart from the compulsory courses, which are English language, Islamiat, Pakistan Studies, Mathematics, and Urdu language, students can select up to five optional courses. However, teachers and institutions recommend a maximum of three owing to the already existing workload. It is advisable for courses to be taken as complementary since it is of no viable use to select subjects which belong to a totally different area of study.
Some students, who have been consistently good at academics all their student life, choose pure sciences so they can gain admission in one of the reputed medical colleges in the world later on. Others choose physics, chemistry and additional mathematics so that they can pursue the field of engineering and actuarial sciences once they finish their intermediate.
For students, who are good at neither, there are other study options, for instance, humanities courses can be taken together, which include Economics, Business Studies, Environmental Studies and Accounting. When these courses are taken together, they produce the right mix of techniques and skills the child needs to specialize in this field later on.
Some courses are double credit, which means they are counted as being equivalent to two courses, world history being one of them.
Some students, who want to pursue other fields for instance, computing, can also select IT or ICT and Food and Nutrition is a course which is widely taken by girls’ option for Ordinary level.
Although there are 55 courses to choose from, schools and educational institutions offer a limited variety since the staff and teaching faculty is limited. For instance, schools do not generally offer any more courses than those which are widely taken by students and are rendered the most popular. Lahore Grammar School offers 3 courses in humanities, 3 courses in engineering and pure sciences and another three or four in side courses such as commerce, art or sociology.
Courses must not be selected randomly and sometimes, in good and renowned institutions, teachers and the school staff sit together to decide which courses a student should be allowed to take based on their past performance in various courses.
Furthermore, it must be understood that O Level grades are considered the most important criteria for admission into good higher education universities. A level grades are secondary and are taken into account afterwards. Hence, those courses must also be taken in which the likelihood of getting a decent grade is high.
Hence, O Level courses must be chosen carefully, taking into account one’s own aptitude for each course and judging himself which of those he/she may be best at, in terms of comprehension and interest.
