Research On Whether Students Who Take Gap Years Are More Successful

Breaking of Studies and Their Challenges

A gap or break year can be defined as a twelve-month period taken as a break from studies in order to work on concentrate on other interests apart from learning. Some people (students) may decide to apply for the break after joining colleges for their first years or even in the last stages of their college education. This period may offer some opportunities such as free time to learn new languages, take other advanced studies, carry out volunteer programs, travel around the world or taking a mental break from the high demands of the classes being undertaking. One can also undertake internship programmes which are related to their areas of study. Such programmes help students advance their processes of decision making, become more mature, prepare them for leadership positions as well as train them how to become independent. This period most of the times shapes the major's students chooses or the paths they take in their career lives. In addition, it can also present a life-changing moment where one can marry or be married.

Taking a gap year (s) from studies may pose some challenges to learners or students who have decided to take such gap years especially at the time of reporting back to school. First, taking a break from joining college can lead to the loss of the skills for writing and presenting the academic papers which are core to acquiring a quality grade. During the transition period, students may engage in activities which may not require the application of such skills and as a result, the students forget such useful skills they have acquired during their previous levels of study. This may lead to the students becoming lazy and ultimately getting poor results.

Second, the break might come as a big blow to the student especially if the student takes the break and treats it as a vacation. This will involve large financial costs since a vacation will involve travelling (flight costs), spending on meals and accommodation as well as other expenses which comes with vacation. It might not be the best option to take a year gap to go for a vacation which might prove to be such costly.

Thirdly, many jobs require experience in that particular field where you are seeking employment. Taking a year behind means more years in school. This also limits the time available for any student to gain experience with as many employers as possible and thus it cost one a job opportunity. Therefore it would be advisable to complete studies without taking a year in college and then start internships or volunteer programs which would enable one gain the maximum experience possible. Fourth, one can end up losing their career path and ambition. Sometimes people choose to take a year out since they have not been offered an opportunity to study from their schools of choice and this is not the best option. Simply because one has not been admitted to where they valued most doesn’t mean they failed but maybe they will be a success on other campuses and they should consider all the offers presented to them. The choice to take a year out may lead to them losing focus and not regaining it to pursue studies as they hoped before. In addition, schools (colleges) are always open for transfers and any person who may deem it not fit to study in any school may hand in a transfer request.

Fifth, one may encounter challenges in trying to convince their parents of the benefits that come with the deferment. Parents may not approve such a decision if they are not convinced of the benefits that will arise from the period of deferment. They may be tempted to imagine that you are leaving studies without considering going back. If this happens, the parents will be a great obstacle to the decision of taking a year off your studies. Finally, there is the challenge of ageing. Time doesn’t wait for anyone as the old saying goes. When one defers or takes a period off the studies, it is certain that when he or she will be joining back, they will join classes with younger people than they are. Time will have overtaken them. Due to their age, they may feel isolated and may take the back seats of the lecture halls. In addition, they may not participate fully during class time. They may be shy to ask questions where they have not understood since they will feel that the younger students will start mocking them. This may lower esteem for self. If they are not given proper counselling, they may even end up leaving the college since they may feel they are not worthy.

Reasons for Taking Gap Years

It is true that resources are limited in almost every corner of the world. In Bangladesh, the higher education is highly affected by the scarcity of the resources and their insufficiency thereof are the major challenges to achieving quality and timely education for the Bangladesh scholars. To begin with, the funding from the Bangladesh government is hardly enough for the students in these institutions of higher learning. In Particular, the government of Bangladesh spends only 2% of what is earned locally on education which among the lowest levels of spending in the Asian continent. This means that it fails to meet all the expenses that the students need to sustain them at the college level. The students, therefore, are forced to survive at the lowest cost possible. Those students whose parents are not able to supplement the government t funding to sustain their children in school may leave the scholars with no option other than calling off from their studies until they get scholarships or other funding aids. In addition, the students can take off a year out of school due to the workload at the college. Colleges have a specialized but broad syllabus and therefore students may need to take a break from their studies. The methods of teaching, as well as the content, can be burdensome to the students especially freshmen who have not been used to such loads of work and they may decide to take a year out.

Thirdly, poverty has been another major cause taking gap years in college. In Bangladesh, despite all the efforts by the stakeholders to ensure high levels of education are achieved, there is still a great percentage which has not achieved a secondary education. This means that the labour market is filled with a high population of semi-skilled or unskilled labour. This, therefore, translates to low pay since also the nature of jobs that semi-skilled or unskilled people engage in are limited and offer low compensation. This makes it difficult for the people to raise enough income to sustain the families as well as cater for the children’s school fees and therefore children are forced to take gap years. Although the government has promised free education for all students at the lower levels (primary) and extending the same to the secondary and tertiary levels (colleges and universities), the project has not been implemented and this is a major setback especially to the needy students.

Finally, terrorism has affected learning in institutions of higher learning, especially in Bangladesh and Pakistan. This has left many students terrified and fearing for their lives. Terrorism has not only been a threat to these two countries but the world at large. This has led to some students transferring from schools or colleges which have been faced with attacks or even calling off their time with studies due to the threat posed on their lives. Strategies to help in the Bangladesh/ India/ Pakistan SituationsThere are a number of available strategies to help in solving the situation in the Bangladesh/ India/ Pakistan situations:

Financing - The governments should increase the budget or funding of the education sector. The current spending in comparison to the GDP of Bangladesh is 2% which is relatively low when compared to the other countries in the region. Channelling more funds in the sector will mean that the students will be able to receive a higher amount in terms of grants as well as pay relatively lower fees for the college education. The students will have enough money to sustain them through semesters without necessarily having to rely much on their parents. This will provide the poor students with an opportunity to stay in school since they are self-dependent and if parent’s support is required if any, it will be manageable. Moreover, scholarship opportunities should be made available especially for the disadvantaged in the community such as those who are total orphans, have one parent or incapacitated in any other way.

Updating and Revision of syllabus - The syllabus of the Universities is not frequently revised and updated. The government should revise its curriculum and syllabus. The syllabus should be designed to suit the particular fields of study to avoid large workload imposed on students. The syllabus should be highly specialized to ensure that students only study what is relevance to their field and not much work that does not fit their field. This, as a result, will reduce fatigue to the students. This will also increase the productivity of the students in the labour market as they will be finished products who have full knowledge in areas of interest. In summary, the curriculum should focus on improving competencies, skills for analysis than memorization studies. In addition, the teaching staff should receive constant training to ensure that they are also updated with the syllabus and they deliver the content which is required and in line with the needs of the market. Similarly, in Pakistan, in a quest to achieve the vision 2030, it aims to increase the expenditure of the public, especially in the education sector. It also aims at increasing the quality of the education by ensuring the courses offered are highly customized to fit the needs of the market.

Proper management - the management of the institutions of the higher learning, as well as the ministry chiefs, should be kept on a constant check to avoid mismanagement of the funds. As the managerial saying goes, a good management brings good results while the reverse might not be true. The funds should be managed by people who are well vetted and who can be trusted with resources of the public. To add, the people should have the goals and the whole idea in their mind in order to transform the education system and reduce cases where students will be always taking gap years.

Ensuring access to the institutions - Many people in these countries do not occupy the urban areas and therefore efforts should be made to ensure that these institutions of higher learning are also set up in rural areas. This will reduce the effects of homesicknesses since the students can take their studies while residing in their homes.

Reduction of rates on loans or grants - The grants or loans advanced to students during their periods of study attract high-interest rates especially in countries like India. This means that the students will not be willing to apply for such aids even though they may be needy. This is because the amount to be repaid will be very high and students may consider such repayment amounts as a hindrance to their growth. This may force students to struggle with their arrears and ultimately take a deferment. The respective governments in collaboration with the ministries should lower the rates to ensure that the loans are affordable to all students.

Discouraging differences in social classes - Differences in classes (poor and rich) has affected many students, especially in India. Poor students don’t take any motivation to carry on with their education. The ministry should lead campaigns in breaking such barriers especially in institutions of higher learning to ensure that irrespective of the class, every student is motivated to continue with their studies (Ngo 55).

Steps taken by Government of these Countries

The Governments of the countries of South Asia have in the recently started according to meaningful attention to the education since they have realized the part education plays in achieving economic development. In addition, the efforts in education have been hastened as part of the international program which to provide education freely for every student. There are many strategies which have been put in place to achieve the required milestones, especially in the higher education. One of the major strategies which have paid dearly in the education sector is decentralization which has not been embraced by India, but also Pakistan and Bangladesh. This strategy has helped in ensuring that every party in the education sector is included in decision making and also that communities have been involved fully to decide the fate of their children in education.

The other issue of great interest is the privatization of schools in the region. In spite of the issue being common in Asia, the policies of the public have started supporting the rapid increase of private colleges in the region. Policies for the public are also being drafted and implemented to cut costs associated with acquiring education. Such efforts will be achieved through the use of resources of non-governmental organizations. The measures for making schools and colleges private are emphasized since they will increase the productivity of the education system and also because there are no adequate resources. However, it should be noted that such measures will discriminate the poor from acquiring quality education thus compromising the equity principle and can have disastrous effects on the community.

Moreover, the countries in the south of Asia have been great beneficiaries of the donations or aids on education from international funding organizations such as the International Aid. Although such donations come with some conditions attached to them, such aids are closely monitored and as a result, they are used in the manner they were intended to be. This, therefore, means that students can benefit from these donations to take their education to the next levels especially those coming from poor families. Creating balance in the education sector is another important step that the governments of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have taken. It could have easily been that the improvements which have been conducted on the education sector (basic) spent most of the resources that could have been used to improve the institutions of higher learning and their education. However, the governments of South Asia have realized that for education to achieve the highest standards required, a balance should be struck among the basic, secondary and higher education and therefore efforts are underway to ensure that the basic education is given too much emphasis leaving behind one of the most important components of the education. This will help the students in these institutions thus reducing the chances of students taking breaks in studies especially due to the cost of education.

Opportunities taken for the Study break

Study break or deferment has many benefits to the student. This period enables students to become more focused and understand better what they would like to achieve unlike those who join the institutions of higher learning direct after completing their high school levels. According to researchers, several studies done in parts of Bangladesh, Pakistan and India reveal that students who take a year before joining the college perform better compared to those who joint straight after their studies in high school. This shows that the relationship between a gap year and performance is positive as opposed to many people’s thoughts. In other studies conducted at UK and US, those students who took a year off are likely to achieve a higher GPA compared to those who did not.

A research conducted by an Institute for Gap Years revealed that students who defer have several opportunities to explore. To begin with, the students can engage in volunteering programs with companies or firms of their interest. The survey from the research revealed that 48 percent of the respondents took gap years to take up opportunities in volunteerism. This programme offers the student a wide range of knowledge which can help them decide on their career path. In addition, they also get stipends to help clear their accommodation and meal bills. Moreover, other students take years off the studies in order to gain experience in their fields of work. Students opt to enter into programmes of an internship with companies dealing in products or services related to their careers in order to familiarize themselves with their work. This helps them relate what they have learnt in class with what they can do in practical life. This is important as it acts as an evaluation point for the student to understand what level of experience they have achieved, what they need to put more efforts on as well as what they have mastered thus far. In addition, students may take gap years in order to study technical components of their urses. Students may enrol in other institutions to take professional examinations related to their areas of study. Students who have taken a deferment or a gap year have a generous approach towards other people especially their workmates as well as career mates. They also show a great level of satisfaction when assigned a particular task when compared to those who have never deferred. This is because, during this period, the students get a lot of exposure to different people of diverse races, languages and cultures. This makes it easy for them to accommodate people of different personalities and attitudes. Statistics have it that those students taking medical courses often take gap years as this allows them to practice and carry out research.

Some of the Important Findings

• A gap year is a period of twelve months that students take off from their formal form of studies to explore other opportunities such as internship and volunteerism.
• The number of students who take gap years in each academic year in South Asia countries is increasing. Generally, each year, a population of about 200000 and 250000 take gap years.
• It is not only the people from poor backgrounds who take gap years but also those from families which can sustain their children financially since there are many reasons as to why students take this period off studies which may result as an impact from friends, family, college among others.
• There is an improvement as to how and the quality of information students have been receiving when compared to the last ten years.
• Students who take gap years are more mature compared to those who don’t take gap years.
• Students who take gap years gain a sense of direction of their career path and make informed decisions which save them a lot of time dwelling in fields which they don’t match. It has also been found out these students achieve and graduate with higher GPAs compared to those who didn’t since they are more focused.
• It has been found that those students who take gap years for internship programmes are more skilled than those that don’t take such programmes and companies find them more resourceful. Moreover, such people are highly accommodative due to the extensive exposure they receive during this period.
• People who take long periods before going back to college may never return altogether due to their age. They feel that they are not fit to learn in the same halls or rooms with young people who are of the age of their little brothers or sons if they get married at the twenties and go back at forties for instance. Their esteem drops drastically, however, they may regain it through thorough counselling and a clear conscience of what they are going to achieve and where to apply it to better their lives.
• Gap years are too costly especially if taken for vacations and students may threaten their financial health by applying for this year and so caution should be taken.
• The grants or loans offered to students charged high-interest rates which may discourage students from applying for them.

RecommendationsI would recommend the following:

• Every person privy to the education of a student should be consulted before a gap year is approved and valid reasons should be provided as to why the student is applying for the same to avoid a circumstance where a student applies for a gap year without a clear plan of action thus wastage of time and resources.
• The government should increase the opportunities for scholarships available for the students who come from poor backgrounds to avoid a situation where a student will apply for a gap year on the basis of financial issues.
• Grants or loans offered to students should be charged as low interests as possible to ensure that the students don’t feel the burden and pressure of reservicing or repayment due to its large amount thus preventing them from applying which may put pressure on the parent’s resources.
• Parents and /or guardians should monitor the students who have taken gap years to ensure that they have actually spent that period for the purpose intended for and not any other things.

Conclusion

It is clear that the system of education both secondary and college education in South Asian countries is marred by low quality and poor standards such as social inequalities, gender gaps as well as economic inequalities. In addition, the system is also characterized by inadequate investment and low levels of enrollment. This will translate to a cycle where there is low levels of literacy, low rates of pay, slow rate growth of the economy and poor standards of living. According to Jain, the education level in South Asia has prevented the development and growth of human resources (labour) and also does not give any hope for the growth in future. The enemy of the progress of education in the region is the failure of commitment especially on the political side and the lack of will from the social class to pile enough pressure to the political class. However, there is still much hope building up in the region with the social activism and will grow from year to year.