IELTS

WRITING TASK 2- 19/7/2018

Education for young people is important in many countries.
However, some people think that the government should spend more
money on education for the adult population who cannot read and write.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Nowadays, education is widely considered to be one of the top priorities of governments around the world. There is, however, a
debate as to whether it is of greater benefit to invest in the young or in the illiterate adult populace.

The argument for spending more on young people’s education is clear. They have long working lives ahead of them and so
investing in them is more cost effective than using the money to educate those who are older and have fewer years of work ahead
of them. In addition, older illiterate workers are unlikely to be working in fields such as finance and technology. Most are doing
manual work in agriculture and industry. Indeed, if you asked these older workers about this topic, I am sure most would prefer
governments to focus more on young people (their children) because in many traditional societies the younger generation has a
responsibility to look after their parents.

Whilst this is a strong argument, there are reasons to believe that using some money on literacy programmes for those already in
work is useful. First, these programmes are often relatively cheap. One trained teacher who can read is able to educate hundreds
of illiterate people using only basic materials. Second, when a person is illiterate it does not just affect their employment situation.
People nowadays need to be able to read in order to have a bank account, claim government benefits and pay bills. Moreover, let
us not forget that much information is still printed, despite the fact that we live in an age of TV and YouTube videos.

To summarise, the argument that the government should spend more on young people instead of older illiterate people is not
watertight. There are clear benefits to spending more on adult literacy programmes. Whilst I agree that more money should go
towards young people than illiterate adults, the latter should not be forgotten and even a little funding could make a big
difference.

(327 words)




- One of the top priorities : 1 trong những ưu tiên hang đầu
- It is of greater benefit to do something : Có lợi hơn nếu làm gì đó
- Illiterate (adj) : mù chữ
- Populace (noun): population
- The argument that…. Is not watertight : Lập luận rằng….. Là một lập luận rõ ràng đúng .
- Long working lives ahead : thời gian làm việc dài trong tương lai
- Cost effective (adj) : có lợi ích về chi phí , tiết kiệm chi phí
- To do manual work : làm việc/lao động chân tay
- Traditional societies (noun) : xã hội truyền thống
- Literacy programmes (noun): chương trình bổ túc văn hoá
- Employment situation : tình trạng việc làm
- To live in the age of… : sống trong thời đại của…
- The argument that…. is not watertight : lập luận rằng….. không phải là không có kẽ hở.
- To make a big difference : tạo nên sự khác biệt lớn/rõ rệt