「古典」って学ぶ意味ある？ない？
As a Japanese teacher of English, I have wondered why do high school students in Japan have to learn Classic Japanese (古典). As of today, Japanese required to take two to three class hours of Classic Japanese every week.
Personally, it was not joy to me. Reading classic literature could have been fun, but I hated two things about it. The first thing is about that I had to memorize a lot of classic terms such as "あはれ" or "おかし". I definitely would not need it especially I finished the exam. We never say it today! The second part was about the verb conjugation. Do you remember learning words like "連用形" and "未然形"? Why do we have to learn about a language that nobody uses today???? It was nothing but pain for me.
It is understandable that reading classic literature could be meaningful. I get it. Yet, for high school students, why does that HAVE TO BE classic literature? Is there anything that classic literature has but modern literature works do not? If not, spending more time just for modern literature would be way more significant.
In fact, high school students today are expected to learn so many things, such as English, programming, and even career building skills. In this current society, what is the meaning of learning Classic Japanese for high school students?
With this being said, the debate topic states: is it necessary to learn Classic Japanese at high school?
We define "learning Classic Japanese" as learning about Japanese classic literature as well as its linguistic features. Therefore, it is not just about reading these classic works but also about learning/memorizing classic Japanese terms, verb conjugations, and so on. It could be easier if you just imagine your Classic Japanese classes for high school.
Just for your information, with this topic, it is easier to take the negative side (to disagree with the idea that it is necessary to learn Classic Japanese at high school), for a number of reasons. Thus, choose your stance with your preferable difficulty. If you want to pick a harder side, I would recommend that you disagree with the topic. Just so you know!
Here are some sources for you. English pages are about classic "English" literature, but they should carry important information as well.