In the country of Orubai, school attendance past the third grade is op

Question

In the country of Orubai, school attendance past the third grade is optional, and a third of the population is illiterate. Therefore, a presidential decree instituting mandatory schooling till the sixth grade is necessary.
Which of the following, if true, provides the best support for the argument above?

A) Students generally learn to read and write in the first and second grades, and acquire other skills in the following years. 
B) A decree mandating schooling will only be effective if it is accompanied by enforcement and, if necessary, punishment of parents who do not comply. 
C) The majority of illiterate Orubians grew up in a time when all schooling was optional. 
D) Many Orubians are homeschooled, and the literacy rate of homeschooling is almost 90%. 
E) Given additional schooling, a significant portion of illiterate children will be able to read and write.

GYANENDRA88 · Answer

E is the only option that supports whole argument

Posted from my mobile device

jackspire · Answer

Why C can't be the answer?
We haven't given that children are illiterate, but it's talking about the whole population.
If a majority of this illiterate population grew due to optional schooling, then we can avoid this by making mandatory.
Here the argument is based on illiteracy factor.

Correct me if I am wrong.

viveknegi · Answer

Why not B ??
It states clear that schooling should be mandated by the parents enforcement

Posted from my mobile device

GYANENDRA88 · Answer

jackspire 
The author is concerned about present conditions that are not sufficient to improve literacy rate.so the author suggests to institute mandatory schooling till the sixth grade.
In option c you cannot say whether it is supporting present condition (...upto 3rd grade) or author's suggestion to make it upto 6th grade.

GMATBusters · Answer

Official Explanation:

Since children already have to go to school till third grade, the argument supporting mandatory schooling till sixth grade depends on two assumptions: that grades four through six matter for literacy, and that a presidential decree can achieve the goal of making parents send their children to school. Answer choice (E) directly supports the second assumption, since it tells us that a child who is still illiterate by the end of the third grade may benefit from additional schooling.

GYANENDRA88 · Answer

viveknegi 
I rejected B coz I cannot relate author's view (changing mandatory schooling from 3rd grade to sixth) with this option.
It is simply saying that STRICTLY mandating schooling will sort out the issue but author wants to change the law.He didn't say that people are not following the present rules and it should be enforced in a more stringent way.

nightblade354 · Answer

In the country of Orubai, school attendance past the third grade is optional, and a third of the population is illiterate.   Therefore, a presidential decree instituting mandatory schooling till the sixth grade is necessary. 
Which of the following, if true, provides the best support for the argument above?

The blue is our premise, and the green is our conclusion. The goal is to STRENGTHEN our conclusion.

A) Students generally learn to read and write in the first and second grades, and acquire other skills in the following years. --  Weakens our argument. We are told that students learn in grades one and two, so going to grade six does not make a difference  
B) A decree mandating schooling will only be effective if it is accompanied by enforcement and, if necessary, punishment of parents who do not comply. --  This doesn't do anything for our argument. It just says how the proclamation would be enforced, and is thus out of scope 
C) The majority of illiterate Orubians grew up in a time when all schooling was optional. --  Weakens our argument. This says it is not because of school, but because of the previous administration  
D) Many Orubians are homeschooled, and the literacy rate of homeschooling is almost 90%. --  Weakens our argument. Home school = higher literacy rate = The proclamation will have no affect  
E) Given additional schooling, a significant portion of illiterate children will be able to read and write. --  Winner. This says that more education = more literacy. This strengthens our argument!

foryearss · Answer

C) The majority of illiterate Orubians grew up in a time when all schooling was optional.

here c talks about ALL SCHOOL was optional so maybe the reason that they are illiterate is because the 1st & 2nd grades were optional ,and these levels are the important levels in learning to write and read , and the 3-6 levels are not important in learning how to read and write ; so if this is the case , we can't say if we make schooling mandatory until 6th grade will help us fight illiteracy .
We need to find something that support that 3-6 levels are important in learning how to read & write . 
E exactly gives us that

jackspire · Answer

Thanks foryearss for your reply.

jackspire · Answer

Thanks, gyanendra for your reply.

SonalSinha803 · Answer

A) Students generally learn to read and write in the first and second grades, and acquire other skills in the following years.
 - The word illiteracy means being unable to read and write. Thus, if a person is able to read and write until second grade, then they cannot be illiterate. Thus, it weakens the argument.

B) A decree mandating schooling will only be effective if it is accompanied by enforcement and, if necessary, punishment of parents who do not comply. - B cannot be correct. It talks about effectiveness and laws and all. This in no way strengthens the argument.

C) The majority of illiterate Orubians grew up in a time when all schooling was optional. - So,then schooling till third grade is still better. Does this support the fact the additional schooling is required ?

D) Many Orubians are homeschooled, and the literacy rate of homeschooling is almost 90%. - we are not concerned about homeschooling. Irrelevant.

E) Given additional schooling, a significant portion of illiterate children will be able to read and write. - this does a small thing to strengthen the argument. It says why additional schooling should be mandated.
Thus, E is best.

Regards

Sent from my Lenovo K53a48 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Kunal1801 · Answer

Please read the passage again. It says schooling is not mandatory in the second line using a present continuous tense.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In the country of Orubai, school attendance past the third grade is op

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In the country of Orubai, school attendance past the third grade is op

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