Supplementary Classes

[caroline3sg]

Sleepy kids: Is there a need for supplementary classes?


Tue, Jul 29, 2008
The Straits Times

I am writing in response to last Sunday's article, 'Sleepy kids'.

One of the reasons cited for schoolchildren not getting enough sleep was homework and supplementary lessons.

As a parent and former primary school teacher, I do realise that over the years, the practice of having supplementary lessons has become somewhat the norm, and takes place even during school holidays.

Why is there a need for such lessons in the first place? Are such classes held to supplement the regular curriculum, or are they a means to complete curriculum content that cannot be finished during regular school hours?

If it is the former, do parents have the option to take their children out of these lessons?

If it is the latter, why is the curriculum not completed during regular school hours? If the reason is a lack of time during school hours, then the Ministry of Education should review the curriculum content. It is illogical to load so much content into the curriculum.

My child is currently in Primary1. I might be in the minority but to me, his attaining top-notch results in the Primary School Leaving Examination is not a priority.

I dread the day when he will be piled with supplementary lessons. When that day comes, I would like to know if I have the option to take him out of these lessons.

Sleep is a precious commodity and mental health is my top priority for my child.

I will never want him to be so fatigued that he sees learning as something to be dreaded rather than embraced with enthusiasm, a state which some of our children have already sadly reached.

Parents in Singapore should take a step back and ask themselves what is truly important.

You cannot put a price on time, sleep and emotional health. Children are children only once. No amount of money will bring back a childhood that has been lost.

Elaine Ong (Mdm)

This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 27, 2008.

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We really do not know whether teachers would disguise incomplete lessons under supplementary classes.

It is a fact that teachers pile tonnes of worksheets on students, leaving no time to revise which is very important.

Somehow I have feeling that teachers start to kan cheong when more and more kids fail at P5

[simplyjo]

My cousin’s school only starts at 8am and I was shocked when my aunt told me my cousin’s teacher even go to the extend of having morning revision classes between 7.15am - 7.35am every day for those students who are weak in Maths!!! No doubt this is their PSLE year, but who is making who kancheong???


The teacher’s intention is good but… morning remedial class at 7.15am!!!

[corneyAmber]

simplyjo:

My cousin's school only starts at 8am and I was shocked when my aunt told me my cousin's teacher even go to the extend of having morning revision classes between 7.15am - 7.35am every day for those students who are weak in Maths!!! No doubt this is their PSLE year, but who is making who kancheong???


The teacher's intention is good but... morning remedial class at 7.15am???!!!

Just curious, is this neighbourhood school or those well-known schools?

[simplyjo]

ks2me:

simplyjo:

My cousin's school only starts at 8am and I was shocked when my aunt told me my cousin's teacher even go to the extend of having morning revision classes between 7.15am - 7.35am every day for those students who are weak in Maths!!! No doubt this is their PSLE year, but who is making who kancheong???


The teacher's intention is good but... morning remedial class at 7.15am???!!!

Just curious, is this neighbourhood school or those well-known schools?

It's a neighbourhood school in NE area... used to have 1 top student in S'pore...

[corneyAmber]

simplyjo:

It's a neighbourhood school in NE area... used to have 1 top student in S'pore...

It seems like neighbourhood schools are more aggressive these days..

[jedamum]

ks2me:

It seems like neighbourhood schools are more aggressive these days..

I agree. Heard that the neighbourhood school that my boy is going to next year, have 'streaming' every year.