School and term papers

I am going back to school for my degree in Health Care Mgmt. I love going to school and learning new things, I don't even mind doing term papers; what I do hate is doing oral presentations. I just do not understand why teachers insist on this. I am a very shy person, who does not like to draw alot of attention. I totally understand the whole thing about being a well rounded student but how is making me stand up in front of a room of people, that I hardly know, going to make me anything but a nervous, stuttering mess? Why do they feel the need to humiliate people this way? I feel that doing an oral presentation should be extra credit and a choice, not mandatory.