I
left Singapore five-and-a-half years ago.
On returning Singapore this year, I realized that if any business is
growing and thriving better than any other, it’s tution centres! There is practically one or more in every
shopping mall, at void decks and even within the schools. They are everywhere:
it almost sounds weird if your child is not in some tuition programme.
If
you are indeed considering sending your child for tuition, enrichment or
whatever name it’s called nowadays, please take a few steps back and think
through a few things before committing yourself:
1)
Financial and non-financial
costs: For
tuition to have an impact, it usually takes at least 10-12 of one-hourly
sessions. Calculate how much time and
money you have to spend. Please don’t think this is a short-term
commitment. I have a friend with three
children who started tuition in Primary school and even though the oldest one
is now in Secondary 2, she still has to receive tuition. Some of my friends have to be “drivers” or “chaperones”
to bring their children to the centres or forfeit family time together to make
sure the children continue with the lessons.
One family I know spend at least $1,500 a month on tuition expenses, not
to mention the number of hours of time commuting, waiting to pick up the
children and hiring a maid so that the mom can do all these!
2) Sense of dependency: I remember reading how a top PSLE student says he
enjoys going to tuition agencies because they motivate him to study. I would think this is cultivating a sense of
dependency instead. Some parents may be
able to afford it all the way through to university but certainly, at some
time, the child has to wean off from external help and practise self-resilience
to work hard on his own accord.
As a mother whose child just entered Secondary 1 this year, I can vouch that post-primary school life can be so hectic that there is really not enough time to commit to a regular tuition programme and the inherent extra homework involved. Perhaps that’s why tuition agencies tend to start them young, focusing a lot on primary school kids. This way, it’s almost like an “addiction”: once you’re addicted to having tuition to “force” you to study, it seems impossible to get out of it. And please, do not be the ultra-kiasu parents who hire tutors to help their children complete the homework set by the tuition agency! This is truly killing the joy of learning.
As a mother whose child just entered Secondary 1 this year, I can vouch that post-primary school life can be so hectic that there is really not enough time to commit to a regular tuition programme and the inherent extra homework involved. Perhaps that’s why tuition agencies tend to start them young, focusing a lot on primary school kids. This way, it’s almost like an “addiction”: once you’re addicted to having tuition to “force” you to study, it seems impossible to get out of it. And please, do not be the ultra-kiasu parents who hire tutors to help their children complete the homework set by the tuition agency! This is truly killing the joy of learning.
3) Is it worth the money? I signed
the consent form for my younger primary 5 son to attend weekly Chinese
composition writing “enrichment” lessons offered by his school. I didn’t think much of it and paid the course
fees since it can be deducted from Edusave.
After a few lessons, I realized that it was provided by an external
course provider and he was merely learning how to “piece together” sentences
which the teacher had written on the board.
There was in effect very little writing done by himself although I must
say the “final” work is a lot better than what he would have written by
himself. I asked him if he felt he
learnt anything useful. He replied
no. If I haven’t probed, I would have
thought that he had indeed improved in his Chinese composition writing when in reality,
he had improved only on his copying skills!
So, customers beware! Not every
course is what it’s made out to be.
4) Beware tuition agencies with “entrance exams”:
Lately, there is also a growing class of “elite” tuition agencies which are known to set high entrance standards. They do not accept just any student and sell themselves as “stretching” the potential of children under them. High-calibre students who end up with high-calibre results – these agencies can then further augment their marketing by saying how well their students have done. They are selling on “snob appeal” and this seems to have worked: waiting lists to enter the school are purportedly very long. Not surprisingly so. It is, after all, a business model that is self-sustaining as long as there is demand to feed it.
Lately, there is also a growing class of “elite” tuition agencies which are known to set high entrance standards. They do not accept just any student and sell themselves as “stretching” the potential of children under them. High-calibre students who end up with high-calibre results – these agencies can then further augment their marketing by saying how well their students have done. They are selling on “snob appeal” and this seems to have worked: waiting lists to enter the school are purportedly very long. Not surprisingly so. It is, after all, a business model that is self-sustaining as long as there is demand to feed it.
Ultimately,
parents, let’s be rational and not join in the mad rush sending our children to
tuition agencies just because it’s what every neighbour, relative or friend is
doing now.
This
is not just a financial decision but a decision on how we want our children to
grow up.