The benefits of school clubs and extracurricular activities

Education is often associated mainly with lessons, textbooks, homework, tests, and examinations, but students learn many important skills outside the formal classroom as well. School clubs and extracurricular activities can provide experiences that ordinary lessons cannot always offer because they allow students to explore interests, cooperate with people in less formal situations, organise real projects, take responsibility, perform in front of others, solve practical problems, and discover abilities they did not know they possessed. A student who joins a drama group may improve public speaking and confidence, someone participating in a sports club may learn teamwork and persistence, a school newspaper can develop writing and interviewing skills, while a science or technology club may give students opportunities to experiment and create beyond the limits of a normal lesson.…