#Tuition or no tuition? Thats the question
Sunday, February 27, 2011 @ 3:59 AM
Present day society has witnessed an influx in the number of tuition going students. However there seems to be an inverse relationship between the number of tuition-goers and their examination results. "Why is this so?" many concerned parents ask?
An average tuition class spans from 1 to 2 hours on a typical basis of once a week. In addition to the mounting homework that teachers issue students on weekdays, parents seem to be oblivious to their children's jam-packed agenda. "Concerned" parents, whom desire for nothing but a beautiful report card, seem to forget that their children are not machines.
Admittedly, there is nothing wrong with wanting your child to do well. However, what these grandiose parents are actually doing are killing their children of their childhood. To examine why parents want children to attend tuition, we have to look at this topic from a macro viewpoint. Parents have a false thinking that tuition will equate to an academically proficient child. And why do parents want an academically proficient child? They want them to possess a degree, and with this degree, find a good job and get a high pay and ultimately, be rich and successful. Unfortunately, what you have just heard is the Singapore Plan, which is a standard procedure to attain success that has virally infected Singaporean families island wide. Singaporeans, or most for that matter, feel that success is based on materialism. Is that the case? I shall not elaborate further.
Going back to the topic of the necessity of tuition, I feel that tuition is just an unnecessary burden to Singaporean students. Hard work and dedication are infallible ingredients to a good report card. Parents need to stop using tuition as a 'fail-proof' backup plan for their children's inattentiveness in class. Parents need to apply the technique of "nipping the problem in the bud" by finding out what is causing their children's lousy grades, for instance, slacking off in class instead of paying attention to teachers.
For parents who have academically sound children, and who still subscribe to the ludicrous notion that tuition will bring children to greater heights, I only have to say this: Stop now before it is too late. Your children maybe managing well now, but trust me, once the enter the realms of Secondary school life, tuition will be a superfluous burden. A student can always maintain their high standards by paying attention in class, or maybe if they are competent enough, go on to do enrichment activities catered especially for the higher standard students. It is only through these stages of consolidation of knowledge where a student can ultimately master a subject at his fingertips.
Unfortunately, there are also parents who issue their children tuition "merely for fun", albeit having academically competent or incompetent children. These group of parents think that children should relieve their ennui by going for tuition. These parents fail to understand that work and play are an equation for success, and this equation will fail to stand if the element of 'play' is missing.
Lastly, on to the topic of a tutor. What is the point of a tutor when there is a teacher? Once again, this point links back to my earlier point on attention span in class. A teacher, will undoubtedly be better than a tutor in ways more than one. Why is that so? A teacher is just like a parent to every student. He knows all of their weaknesses, all of their strong points, and he is the one who possesses knowledge of the progress of the subject taught. Most often, a tutor will not know where his tutee has stopped at in class. Although one may dismiss this point as a weak one, as a student may inform his tutor, I think that this is the most essential part of my speech. Why? A student is not telepathic. A class teacher may want to ensue his lessons by venturing deeper into the topic, or by giving essential subtopics which are relevant in the process of mastering the topic. This is evidenced most in Math, where a single topic, like Algebra consists of smaller topics, which are crucial. Hence, a tutor will not be able to know exactly where to continue teaching the topic from, which may result in a 'clash of preachings'. This will lead the child to be confused, and even have difficulty coping with the double standards presented to him.
In conclusion, I feel that parents are advised to not treat tuition as an indispensable formula for good grades, as the disadvantages that tuition have, such as denying children of leisure, far outweigh their benefits; if any.
