Modern school

Part 3


1) What impact do universities have on the places where they’re located?

I believe that the presence of a university in a town or city has a significant positive impact on the area. For a start, it's often the largest employer, offering jobs at all levels from cleaners and maintenance staff to lecturers and top academics.

Large educational institutions like this bring in lots of investment from around the world from foreign students and for important research projects. The presence of thousands of students during term times is also a massive boost to the local economy.

In addition to the financial benefits, there several ways in which universities contribute socially. For example, university towns and cities tend to be vibrant, with a great social life due to the large numbers of young adults living there. What’s more, the campus itself usually has a number of facilities that can be

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used by local people. A university city I used to live in had an excellent theatre that attracted top plays, shows and performers from around the country.


2) What is it more important for academics to do, research or teaching?

It was only recently, after reading an article about a local university, that I realised just how much research goes on in them. It was about a new facility in the medical faculty and outlined the important research they will now be able to carry out on stem cells and brain tumours. This type of work is vital if we are to combat illness and disease in the future.

For most people though, universities are places of learning where you go to get your degree and prepare for your future career, so teaching must have a high priority. As teachers, academics have the role of passing on knowledge to the next generation.

Weighing it up, I think that the teaching side of their work is the most important because unless they instruct and inspire their students, there will be no-one to fill the most important jobs in society or to carry on the research work the academics do.