Many students find it harder to study when they are at university or college than when they were at school.
Why is this?
What can be done to solve the problem?

An academic transition has always been an area of concern for many, and this is corroborated by a growing view that students find higher education more challenging than secondary education. While this can be attributable to the absence of proper preparation stage and the like, certain measures can combat this problem.

There are a number of reasons behind this growing issue, foremost among these being a lack of proper preparation. Although education systems in most countries provide training sessions, it is no surprise to see the absence of such for school graduates in others. Nowhere is this more apparent than in most CIS countries, where the educational system does not, for the most part, take the significance of an academic transition into account. This is probably why the disparity between high school and university education emerges; by extension, students feel torn apart, given the difficulty of the university education following the completion of high school.

Equally important are educational programs. Higher education exposes school graduates to highly-specialized domains, and the teaching materials used are mostly made of industry-specific terms and cases. Having been subjected to rather general pieces of information throughout school years, new university students thus are mired in tasks and projects beyond their capabilities; mathematics, linguistics, history and art are some of the widely-cited examples, subjects where the disparity leaves students with questions, such as whether their choice of education was the most sensible one.

Cumbersome as this may seem, bridging the academic gap is by no means unmanageable, for certain practical measures have already yielded positive outcomes; among them, what is known as a foundation year stands out, an educational standard that most universities are now following. This is when new university students can take on a course of their choice to see if they thrive academically; even if they falter in so doing, there are a number of courses they can try throughout the first academic year, at the end of which a final decision must be made for the next three years. Some international universities with such a program, for example, gained a foothold in countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, proving the foundation year important than ever. Perhaps most importantly, some local universities are already offering this program, an apparent corollary of which is a smoother academic transition between high school and university education.

Relying on this alone is hardly ever a panacea, however. When paired with a pragmatic solution, the aforementioned measure can be efficient; expectedly so. One such measure is re-designing the materials used for high school education. Schools, for example, can lead their students into specialized domains, some being biology, geography and teaching, for them to explore their interests, thanks to which students can then step into a more familiar major. Not only does this address the academic difference, but it also helps school officials navigate young learners through a seemingly thorny academic world. Coinciding with the foundation year, this measure can either direct students to the academic or vocational world, where they are equipped with necessary skills to, say, understand their domains or climb up the vocational ladder.

In light of the above, one can conclude that the problem stems largely from a lack of proper preparation stage and unsuitable educational programs. Nonetheless, school graduates can still relish a smoother academic transition through the foundation year program and revised educational materials.

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When I tell my students I don't understand Uzbek or Russian, they do not believe in me.

Pity.