According to an article, a University of Bedfordshire study found that kids with stronger public speaking skills will test better. Communication skills like public speaking, debating, questioning and arguing should be introduced to kids in primary school. Having kids participate in speaking exercises will enable them to gain more self-confidence, which will translate well in the classroom and on tests.
According to the article, “those taught how to use persuasive speech, and who were placed in situations requiring them to make spontaneous responses, and to argue, question, debate and speak publicly, scored considerably higher in nationally standardized tests than the others – equivalent to extra gains of several months.”
Communication is essential in life and to learn and hone your skills at young age can be highly beneficial. Kids seem to be more shy nowadays and until they are in a comfortable state will they come out of their shell. At a young age kids are very impressionable and will soak up information. If schools can instill the importance of communication at a young level, kids will be well-versed in the area and won’t have issues at an older age. Almost all colleges have public speaking courses and many programs require at least one class in order to graduate. Why would you wait to learn about public speaking when you are in college? It is a very practical skill.
I am happy to see that primary schools are including communication in their curriculum. It is also reassuring to see that it is having an impact on testing. It seems like it is win-win opportunity and more schools should adopt a similar curriculum.