Dear Readers, Please check out our new Opinion Poll on whether schools should be allowed to expel students and cast your vote by the end of July 2014. As you know …

your opinion counts

Our June 2014 poll was about whether community service should be mandatory in schools:

Schools should make volunteering for community service mandatory, because students should realise that everyone must give back to the community.

• I agree. Just as students are exposed to different subjects that enrich their lives, they also need to be exposed to the joy of helping others. (89%, 47 Votes)

• I disagree. Schools should focus on academics and let volunteering be a personal decision. In any case community service by its very nature is voluntary. (11%, 6 Votes)

The majority of those who responded to this poll (89%) feel that community service should be mandatory in schools. These respondents believe that by making community service compulsory, a school will be exposing children to the idea of giving back to the community, in the same way as it acquaints its students with different subjects. In contrast, only 11% of the respondents felt that performing philanthropic acts should be a personal choice and that schools should not play a role in it.