All Schools are GOOD Schools
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Article by Monica
http://www.hedgehogcomms.blogspot.com/2012/03/death-by-tuition.html
Quote:
DEATH BY TUITION
I've always maintained that our education system and over-reliance on tuition is getting out of hand but a few New Paper articles I've read lately convinced me that we've officially entered Loony Toons levels. Here they are:
Parent pays nearly $6,000 a month in tuition fees
Parents hire tutors do do kids school and tuition assignments
Kids take test to qualify for top tuition centres
From reading these articles, it would seem like yesterday's deplorable is actually mild by today's standards.
Yesterday: Kids mugging to qualify for top schools
Today: Kids mugging to qualify for top tuition centres
Yesterday: Parents hiring tutors to help their children do homework
Today: Parents hiring tutors to do their children's homework
In fact, as I write the last one, it has already become obsolete, replaced by a new normal:
Yesterday: Parents hiring tutors to do their children's homework
Today: Parents hiring tutors to do their children's tuition homework
So basically, we now need tuition to keep up with tuition? Am I the only one who thinks we have completely lost the plot?
The tuition culture has become so commonplace that even teachers have come to use it as a crutch. A friend of mine told me her son's Chinese teacher asked her to hire a tutor for kid. I've even heard an anecdote where a teacher asked the kids to get their tutors to check the homework before handing it up.
Andre's science teacher is probably an exception. She told me, \"don't give him tuition! Sometimes they teach the wrong thing. I'll teach all that he needs to know.\" She's a lovely teacher and I obeyed. Well, sort of. Andre does have a science tutor - it's me. Does that count?
It really irks me how some of these tuition centres blatantly boast about the top scores of their students, when they do screening tests to take in only the top students in the first place. I might as well put birds in a cage and then claim that I taught them how to fly.
But what concerns me more is the type of values that are emerging from this tuition culture. What was once supposed to be a source of help to aid those who have learning difficulties, has evolved into a monster entitled mentality. Basically, if you have the money, you can hire someone to do anything for you, including doing the homework. (And apparently there is no shortage of tutors willing to do this). Why not hire someone to take your child's exam for you, while you're at it?
At JCs, I've heard it's increasingly common for parents to hire professionals to complete project work for their kids, some of which form part of the final grade. I find it difficult to believe that the teachers don't know or even suspect that this is going on. I guess it's easier to turn a blind eye, since the students' grades affect teachers' KPIs. There's a huge difference between not knowing and not wanting to know.
I find it ironic that the MOE claims to want to place an emphasis on values but do nothing to curb these unethical practices. The tuition industry is morphing out of control and yet MOE continues to remain mum. It frustrates me to no end.
I know MOE feels that they cannot regulate the tuition industry but I've told Sim Ann previously that by not speaking up and making a stand, MOE is actually condoning such practices - it's ok to coach your child into the GEP, it's ok to have your tutor do your homework for you. It's like telling your child stealing is bad and then doing nothing when rampant thefts take place.
The tuition industry did not just happen by accident. It is a direct result of an education system that obsesses over scores and systematically sieves children using this measure until only a few get the prize. Inevitably, there is a huge stampede for the prize. If you create a system that consistently rewards and hence, reinforces such behaviour, you cannot say you are not accountable for the backlash. I picture the MOE officials rolling their eyes and exclaiming, \"All these kiasu parents!\" and then washing their hands.
Newsflash: Pilate was culpable too.
I'm not saying the tuition industry should be regulated (I'm not sure you can, anyway). All I'm saying is MOE should make a stand openly that they frown on such practices because it is against their education philosophy, and hold any wrong-doers accountable. Then perhaps, parents and tuition centres will not flaunt these practices so openly.
According to reports, Singaporeans now spend about $820 million a year on tuition. Education has become a commercial enterprise and the problem with this, is that it only benefits those with resources. Want to close the rising income gap? Start with the tuition industry.
To me, the PSLE is the biggest contributor to this escalating insanity, but I'll probably address that another time.
Unquote -
try:
thank you for sharing!Let me share my conversation with my P2 dd's english teacher during the meet-the-parents session. Please note that this teacher really meant well - that she was sincerely telling me that that's the state of education right now.
Me : How's my dd doing?
Teacher : She is doing well, among the top 5 but if you want her to do well in the top class in P3, she will need to improve her English especially composition.
Me : What can be done to improve her English? The stuff taught in school are very basic and not challenging.
Teacher : While I would like to give different worksheets for students of varying standards, parents may complain. The standard of the students in the class is too varied. Why don't you try sending her to TLL? With her scores, she will definitely get in.
Did I send my daughter to TLL? No, not yet.... and hopefully never. I view it as a failure on my part if I show my daughter that if one could not do well, enrichment/tuition is the way to go. I am encouraging her to try to learn from friends and ask the teacher. On my part, I know I need to guide her towards where to find help (on an adhoc basis so that they learn to explore what is learning!) since she is still so young.
Proper resources for the students is so critical to encourage self learning!
certainly the teacher has meant well, identifying that your girl is capable of handling stuff beyond her academic yr.
So as kiasu parents, if we are not equipped with the skill to coach and push our kids harder, then I guess we may look for professional help. -
Chenonceau:
:spank: :spank: :torchme: the Ministerjenao:
From what I read from the papers, I don't think MOE is going to read much into this thread as Mr Heng himself said \" the problem lay less with the system, than with those who use it.\" So, from MOE point of view, the system does not need fixing but rather the users of the system need to change their mindset!!!!
This riles. We elected a Minister to help us and he turns around to tell us it's our fault.
WE used to have good textbooks, and Teachers whom we felt LOVED us, and did not use us for KPIs. -
may be our experience with the teachers and the school system is extremely rare based on the sharings on this thread
at no time were we asked to send the kids to xxx tuition centre, neither were we asked where we sent them for tuition
we did meet with all the subject teachers at regular interval and no doubt there were feedback on improvement areas and inevitably the teachers would email the supplemental materials needed for the improvement area
the teachers also made power point slides summarising key areas of concentration and MUST KNOW area, especially near to exam time
and no, the teachers never ask anyone in the class for any notes from tuition centre - in fact the teachers said the notes from the xxx tuition centre were outdated. and my kid noticed that those who went to xxx tuition centre did not top the class
these are really fantastic teachers our kids had and some of them have been award winners in their area of expertise
don't think we are the exception, as the teachers were always available and respond to emails - not within 24 hours, but within reasonable time with all questions answered. Students could also email the teachers any time. Once I received a call not from the teacher after the email but a call from a board member of the school ........ to thank me for the email to the teachers :shock:
as I mentioned before, the partnership between teachers and parents is important, with mutual feedback -
VeryKiasu2010 : GEP Parent
Nebbermind: GEP Parent
Firefly38: GEP Parent
The GEP quality of education is not usual in mainstream. GEP gets small classes. GEP branch writes all supplementary material. GEP teachers report straight to GEP branch. If DS had made it to GEP, I might be singing a different tune too.
Whilst we can rejoice with you at the good quality education your kids have received, don’t diss us for having teachers who spell "trooping" with 2 "p"… who ask the class to contribute tuition notes (my own personal experience)… who scold my son for daring to ask for supplementary notes…
Show some compassion to the less fortunate. Don’t ask us to migrate simply because we did not experience the same quality education you have experienced. It is not our fault that we’re on the short end of the MOE stick. It’s also not a sin of avarice to ask for…
(1) better textbooks
(2) a database of resources shared amongst all schools to help Teachers teach better
This way, every child can access documented knowledge and skills… and hopefully, enough supplementary materials too. All my son needs is materials to do self-learning with. This way, even with a bad teacher, non-GEP children can still help themselves. They may not do as well as if they had tuition (or parent help) but at least they have a lifeline with which to help themselves, and they don’t grow up learning that they need a tutor or parent help to succeed in life. -
Are GEP teachers really better? Last time maybe because GEP was new then and the only the bestest were picked. Nowadays? I don’t think so. Very good teachers already go MOE, no no do what. Some leave, cannot tahan. What we have left are those who have good knowledge/education qualification. However, teaching needs skill, not knowledge alone. A different set of skills are needed to excite intelligent kids.
Are GEP students really intelligent? Yes, but only maybe 5% of them. These are the real geniuses. Then how do others become GEP? Mostly they are self-motivated (few are parent motivated). They are also either better than average in heuristic skills or very good in ang mo.
Are GEP syllabus/projects useful. Yes for the real GEP because it is more interesting to them and is not too taxing. However, usually it is not appreciated by those "happens to be GEP", treating it as another chore or mark accumulation process.
How do I know? Hehehe I am blurring all the way. None of my kids are in GEP. -
Chenonceau:
Hi chen,VeryKiasu2010 : GEP Parent
Nebbermind: GEP Parent
Firefly38: GEP Parent
The GEP quality of education is not usual in mainstream. GEP gets small classes. GEP branch writes all supplementary material. GEP teachers report straight to GEP branch. If DS had made it to GEP, I might be singing a different tune too.
Whilst we can rejoice with you at the good quality education your kids have received, don't diss us for having teachers who spell \"trooping\" with 2 \"p\"... who ask the class to contribute tuition notes (my own personal experience)... who scold my son for daring to ask for supplementary notes...
Show some compassion to the less fortunate. Don't ask us to migrate simply because we did not experience the same quality education you have experienced. It is not our fault that we're on the short end of the MOE stick. It's also not a sin of avarice to ask for...
(1) better textbooks
(2) a database of resources shared amongst all schools to help Teachers teach better
This way, every child can access documented knowledge and skills... and hopefully, enough supplementary materials too. All my son needs is materials to do self-learning with. This way, even with a bad teacher, non-GEP children can still help themselves. They may not do as well as if they had tuition (or parent help) but at least they have a lifeline with which to help themselves, and they don't grow up learning that they need a tutor or parent help to succeed in life.
vs2010's child was from the mainstream and firefly38 has another ds in the mainstream. I think we all have our fair shares of dealing with less competent teachers in our kid's school, be it the GE or mainstream. Even in the best school, there are some bochap teachers too. Perhaps it is just that we have better experiences with schools and teachers and hence the differences in views.
Yes, Gep students enjoy a smaller class size. But i dont think the GEP students get better resources/material than the mainstream students, especially if you view better resouces to better preparation of PSLE.
In fact, in my view, the GEP practises even more 'Teach less, learn more'. The pupils are expected to do research on their own and this is how they learn most of the time. But most students in the GEP are happy and they love this teaching style as compared to the normal drill and practice method in the mainstream. -
verykiasu2010:
:goodpost: We need more positive posts about schools and teachers.may be our experience with the teachers and the school system is extremely rare based on the sharings on this thread
at no time were we asked to send the kids to xxx tuition centre, neither were we asked where we sent them for tuition
we did meet with all the subject teachers at regular interval and no doubt there were feedback on improvement areas and inevitably the teachers would email the supplemental materials needed for the improvement area
the teachers also made power point slides summarising key areas of concentration and MUST KNOW area, especially near to exam time
and no, the teachers never ask anyone in the class for any notes from tuition centre - in fact the teachers said the notes from the xxx tuition centre were outdated. and my kid noticed that those who went to xxx tuition centre did not top the class
these are really fantastic teachers our kids had and some of them have been award winners in their area of expertise
don't think we are the exception, as the teachers were always available and respond to emails - not within 24 hours, but within reasonable time with all questions answered. Students could also email the teachers any time. Once I received a call not from the teacher after the email but a call from a board member of the school ........ to thank me for the email to the teachers :shock:
as I mentioned before, the partnership between teachers and parents is important, with mutual feedback -
limlim:
Maybe the banning of tuition advertisement will work. Tuition centres usually list down their top scocers in PSLE in their advertisement. This gives a wrong impression to some parents that in order to do well in PSLE, one has to go for tuition. One has to realise that by going to XXX tuition centre does not mean excellent results in the PSLE. There are pupils going to XXX tuition centre but score only so so results in the PSLE. Just that it is not reflected in the advertisement.
Can ban, ban..KSP:
But why not just ban it like firecracker or chewing gum? Short and sharp.
cannot ban.. ban advertisement.. :evil: -
Let's not cloud the issue with GEP and quality of its teachers blah blah blah... and how smart the kids are... blah blah blah.
As long as GEP parents know they are a privileged lot and at the top of the education pyramid, we should not begrudge their children the benefits of a good education. There are many children who love their time in GEP because the content is fun and challenging... and they can much more easily DSA into good schools. Hence, little PSLE stress.
Similarly, GEP parents should not begrudge to mainstream parents our rights to improve things for our kids. As active citizenry committed to Singapore, this is what we are doing. We have been patient. It's been close to a year? The tune is still that MOE has had no part to play in the growth of the tuition industry. MOE has not heard us, it would seem... so we try again.
I agree with Monica Lim, who wrote
\"The tuition industry did not just happen by accident. It is a direct result of an education system that obsesses over scores and systematically sieves children using this measure until only a few get the prize. Inevitably, there is a huge stampede for the prize. If you create a system that consistently rewards and hence, reinforces such behaviour, you cannot say you are not accountable for the backlash. I picture the MOE officials rolling their eyes and exclaiming, \"All these kiasu parents!\" and then washing their hands.
Newsflash: Pilate was culpable too.\" (http://hedgehogcomms.blogspot.com/2012/03/death-by-tuition.html)
I myself believe that if Teachers in mainstream education had
(1) better textbooks to teach with
(2) a database of resources to dig into
(3) fewer students in each class
... they would be able to do a better job no matter whether the Teacher is WEAK (like DS' teacher who can't spell and who has just lost 2 of my son's compos... one of which she had earlier returned unmarked) or STRONG (like DS' Science Teacher who clearly knows her work and was able to explain and model in class PSLE Science answering techniques).
Unfortunately, these same Science answering techniques have been required in exams since SA1 last year. My question to her was, why do you test before you teach? The answer given was \"The bright ones naturally know\". Naturally know? Without being taught? If my son were that bright, he would be in GEP and I would not be writing this. This brings me to the last suggestion
(4) Don't test what you have no means (time/resources) to teach.
Together, the above 4 recommendations should shore up Teacher Quality by a fair amount without having to sack and counsel teachers... and without having to tell teachers they are at fault. Just help them to help our kids. Everyone wins.
I am very hurt and shocked that a GEP parent like Firefly38 can be so uncaring that he/she would actually tell parents like us to migrate. It's a bit like a rich aristocrat who drinks Evian water by the bucket loads, telling the poor slum dweller, who drinks pond water... \"Please migrate if you don't like the quality of this nation's water, because I for one, think it is pure and clean.\" It is not the same water we are drinking.
And we have a right to make noise when our water (or English compositions) is contaminated (or is fraught with error). We also have a right to make noise when Teachers tell us to go get our water elsewhere (i.e., get tuition)... or when they raise their eyebrows when they learn that our kids have no alternative source of water (i.e., tuition).
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