Arguments
1. Only books can provide people with the knowledge that makes them educated.
2. The criticism that what students learn today is not adapted to present-day society is utterly wrong because education can never be seen only in terms of how useful the subjects are when students leave school. We ought to evaluate education in terms of how much the students enjoy those subjects and how much they mean to those students.
3. Instead of being trained to be utilitarian~, students should be encouraged to do things for their own sake, for getting satisfaction out of them rather than for what is achieved at the e12
4. Those with a good command of the knowledge provided in books can adapt themselves better to their future life than those without.
5. Those who stress only practical skills and techniques and ignore the function of books are short sighted.
6. Only by urging students to read more, write more and do more exercises can education be improved.
7. Being practical, many children leave school and start earning money at an early age. Because of this, quite a large number of children join the ranks of the illiterate in the country.
8. Without the knowledge provided in books, there is no point in talking about training qualified personnel and fostering versatile talents.
Counter-arguments
1. Education is a gradual extension of oneself. It does not only take place in school buildings. It is a life-long experience.
2. Students should be taught how to live and how to get on with one another. This is more important than reading and writing.
3. Writing, reading and arithmetic don't really matter. What matters is that students should learn to understand the world.
4. Students are so overburdened with classwork and homework that many of~ them do not enjoy good health.
5. Instead of offering students book-learning only, we should encourage them to get to know society so that they will be more adaptable to real life.
6. Many students are spoilt by our present-day educational system. They may be top students at school, but they are at a loss as to how to deal with practical matters.
7. Education is but a failure if it only produces people who are unable to put theory into practice.
8. We should put right the tendency of stressing only students' academic~ achievement and ignoring their moral and physical education.
9. Students, in their formative years, should have a chance to broaden their outlook rather than feel compelled to work towards passing an exam.
