All Schools are GOOD Schools
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Chenonceau:
I am inclined to think that the most obvious solution may not necessarily be the most effective one. The obvious solution to a rat problem is of course to kill the rats. The real solution is to remove the food source. The obvious solution to the tuition problem is to ban tuition. The real solution is to remove the source of revenue - parents.
MOE has tried to remove the food source by trying to change mindsets via the national newspapers... telling parents that THEY are kiasu and to stop being so kiasu... in the hopes of getting parents to remove the source of tuition centres' revenue - themselves.
However, parents are responding to a different set of incentives (food source again). The tuition centres give material that helps their kids ace the exams set beyond what is taught. These A grades give parents a sense of fulfillment. You think the parent will go cold turkey just because you say they're kiasu? Of course not! A grades are too yummy. Try to tell someone who loves sharkfin to give up sharkfin for no other reason than that he is a jerk for participating in shark murder.
It ain't gonna work.
Instead, the \"jerk\" is gonna get really mad at you for calling him a \"jerk\". And this is exactly what happened when MOE said the tuition phenomenon is the fault of parental kiasu-ism.
We got mad.
Sure... the sharkfin gourmet is a jerk (oops... sorry for those who like sharkfin), and sure... parents ARE kiasu. But jerks don't like to be called jerks for eating what they love. Parents don't like to be called kiasu when they are doing it for those they love. After getting mad at MOE, parents are just gonna do whatever they want. You're not gonna get lasting behavioral change this way.
Two Ways to Pop the Tuition Bubble
The are TWO ways I suggest to remove tuition centres' food source are focused on satiating parents' hunger for (a) high quality written resources given by tuition centres (b) individualized feedback for their children.
(1) aggressively compete with them on quality and quantity of written resources and individualized feedback. TLL's classes are 15 at most. Marking is done so throughly that even good compos look like they're BLEEDING ink. They hand out excellent notes. Can MOE compete (we will look at this question later)?
(2) stop testing beyond what is taught so that you don't spike parents' hunger for resources and feedback by failing their kids for no other reason that that the exam was setting way beyond what was taught. This should not be hard to do.
For sure, some parents are more greedy than others. Some of us love food and will overeat anyway. You'll never be able to satisfy these. But that's ok because many many many other parents DON'T overeat.
Can MOE Compete? How can MOE Compete?
(1) Leverage on the plethora of excellent resources already in schools but hiding.
(2) Really make smaller classes come true.
MOE functions on taxpayer funds. Upfront out of pocket expenses for parents are minimal. Their service offering is lower cost for parents and if comparable (or even slightly inferior) in quality, the tuition market will experience the effects of a substitute good (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitute_good).
Why Banning Tuition Won't Work
This solution is less obvious but it will be more effective because banning tuition will make it
(1) go underground (just like the alcohol ban lead to an increase of bootlegging in the USA of the 1920s... but was ineffective in curbing alcoholism)
(2) more expensive and then only people like jedamum will suffer because she REALLY needs tuition and she won't be able to afford it
(3) quite funny for Police Officers to go to work. They'll have to start treating tutors like prostitutes and children like prostitute clients.
In conclusion, the solution lies in upping the quality of MOE's essential service to the nation. If this can be properly done, the tuition problem will shrink. It won't ever go away because there ARE students who need it... but kids like mine... independent and willing to learn, won't.
limlim... ya got PM.
:goodpost:
Reduce class size is long long overdue.
And not testing beyond what is taught is the right direction.
Equally important is to tackle the problem of teachers not teaching the \"difficult maths problems\".
Some teachers even do not explain the steps but simply telling them to copy the answers on the board. -
KPI of Principal and teachers should be changed to 'Getting the most number of students scoring above 75%". This way, they won’t set questions beyond the average kids ability.
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Good one chen,
Class size must definitely be reduced.
I’d also go for longer school day or after school care within school.
Ex-Tuition centre staff could be deployed by MOE to do homework supervision, organize truly enriching/creative activities (not necessarily academic) based on children’s interest. -
ER:
KPI of Principal and teachers should be changed to 'Getting the most number of students scoring above 75%\". This way, they won't set questions beyond the average kids ability.
What about a KPI like frequency of children's raising hands to ask questions? How about number of times a child's eyes light & faces glowing with smiles? How about a KPI of number of Parents' testimonials to school for making my child happy about going to school?
Seriously, if schools talk about raising curious critical thinking children, they need to start recreating their KPIs. What's a KPI for Joy of learning? What's a KPi for curiosity? If we keep defining success by performance at exams, then KPIs set will be along the lines of number of As,Bs Cs or marks. -
linden2000:
Not sure how prevalent the practice of setting killer papers from P5 onwards is but this practice results in such young kids experiencing failure frequently and really shatters their confidence and self-esteem.
I know my confidence is shattered.
There are several issues to address:
1) reduce class size. Keep to 30 especially at upper primary.
2) reduce teachers' workload. Outsource CCA.
3) increase teachers' pay. They deserve it. -
Chenonceau:
I view it differently leh..I am inclined to think that the most obvious solution may not necessarily be the most effective one. The obvious solution to a rat problem is of course to kill the rats. The real solution is to remove the food source. The obvious solution to the tuition problem is to ban tuition. The real solution is to remove the source of revenue - parents.
The direct solution is to ask teacher to teach what they shd, and test what they shd.. if whole class get 100 marks.. so be it..
the indirect solution is to ban tuition center or tuition advertisement..
w/o convenient tuition centers, they want to be kiasu also difficult.. and \"may\" give up.. :evil: :evil:
I guess, we need to identity the problem first..
A) kiasu parents.. (which is not a problem by itself)
B) Tuition centers (which fuel the problem)
C) Students are well prepared for school lessons (Not a problem by itself)
D) Teachers view that majority of the students already know the subject matter and so skip that part or teach less (Problem one)
E) Teachers feel that they need to set more difficult questions to test the students to differentiate them (Problem two)
F) Average and above average student suddenly lag behind bcoz they are not as well prepared as those who attended tuition centers
G) Parents became compelled to send their kids to tuition center so as not to fall behind too much..
Remove A & B, and it'll be less of a problem.. but A is inherently impossible to eliminate....Chenonceau:
ban tuition center != ban tuition. we can't ban tuition bcoz there is a necessity for it like jedamum's case.
Why Banning Tuition Won't Work
This solution is less obvious but it will be more effective because banning tuition will make it
(1) go underground (just like the alcohol ban lead to an increase of bootlegging in the USA of the 1920s... but was ineffective in curbing alcoholism)
(2) more expensive and then only people like jedamum will suffer because she REALLY needs tuition and she won't be able to afford it
(3) quite funny for Police Officers to go to work. They'll have to start treating tutors like prostitutes and children like prostitute clients.
1) Tuition center gone underground? well. so be it.. what we want is to \"keep it in check\", and not promote widespread infection. No need to \"赶尽杀绝\"。。
Like the case for drug peddling.. are you saying bcoz it cannot be eliminated hence we shd not ban it? no right....
2) Well.. yes in a sense bcoz private tuition is generally more exp than tuition centers..
3) Not a concern. police officer need not go and catch.. I doubt is it the police who catch pple open shop w/o license?
What we want to achieve is, tuition is a last resort for needy students, Not a \"standard\" component of the education system for the masses or mainstream students.Chenonceau:
wah..... how you knoe I nvr chk mailbox one(not aware of new PM)......limlim... ya got PM.
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limlim:
AGREED
Academic results is not everything..verykiasu2010:
this is the result of the information and internet age
it is the same phenomena every major city in the world
you are left behind if you are not forging ahead
however, normal distribution curve still prevails; so, fret not
And we must not give the young the wrong impression by focusing so much on results.. until they get the wrong idea that academic results is everything..
consider.. if
Everyone is charging forward.. they invest in expensive running shoes, they eat steroids, they sacrifice sleep/rest, they don't slow down to look at the scenery.. just to keep ahead of the pack..
To them, being in front is everything.. But.. are they missing something? childhood.. friends, empathy.. etc.. will the scholars end up saying things like \"Get out of my elite uncaring face\"(sorrie to repeatedly use this..) to those who are left behind? because since young, they are trained to view academic achievements as everything.. as they see their parent do everything to make sure they get good scores/results.. and the tuition centers are like adding fuel to these fiery obsession....
....
is it better to have an effective system, and an environment where the gifted will naturally prevail.. or a defective system and a pressure cooker environment where scholars are artificially created (via cooking in the various tuition and enrichment centers) and the less privileged are marginalized and forgotten..?
forging ahead, yes.. but not towards academic excellence only..
churning out exam smart scholars in large quality is not necessarily good for the nation..
worst if some by-product like the sun something(xu?) is spawned.. -
Chenonceau:
remove..... the parents ???? :yikes: boh parents, boh children lorI am inclined to think that the most obvious solution may not necessarily be the most effective one. The obvious solution to a rat problem is of course to kill the rats. The real solution is to remove the food source. The obvious solution to the tuition problem is to ban tuition. The real solution is to remove the source of revenue - parents.
limlim:
Limlim, the motive is good, but imho hor, if this avenue ( banning or controlling tuition centre ) is to be pursued strongly by parents/citizens, the most likely scenario to play out would be tuition centres will be controlled. And how so ? Levy lor, surcharge lor, higher taxes on them lor, or COE lor ( certificate to tutor/enrich ), etc etc.the indirect solution is to ban tuition center or tuition advertisement..
w/o convenient tuition centers, they want to be kiasu also difficult.. and \"may\" give up.. :evil: :evil:
I guess, we need to identity the problem first..
A) kiasu parents.. (which is not a problem by itself)
B) Tuition centers (which fuel the problem)
F) Average and above average student suddenly lag behind bcoz they are not as well prepared as those who attended tuition centers
G) Parents became compelled to send their kids to tuition center so as not to fall behind too much..
Remove A & B, and it'll be less of a problem.. but A is inherently impossible to eliminate....
1) Tuition center gone underground? well. so be it.. what we want is to \"keep it in check\", and not promote widespread infection. No need to \"赶尽杀绝\"。。
Like the case for drug peddling.. are you saying bcoz it cannot be eliminated hence we shd not ban it? no right....
What we want to achieve is, tuition is a last resort for needy students, Not a \"standard\" component of the education system for the masses or mainstream students.
The people will suffer lagi jialat, because as usual all these extra cost will be passed down to the consumers.
another way is to cap the fees, or to restrict their entry requirements to those who need tuition only.
I love all the ideas being thrown here, it shows that many parents DO care, for the majority of all Singapore children. :oops: -
Tuition is necessary lah…kids spend 7 hours in school and yet still don’t know how to handle and pass. After school so tired, no choice still have go for tuition. Math teacher, Science teacher all say same thing during parent-teacher meeting, ‘capable of doing better’. I wonder, whose responsibility is it then ? Yours or mine ? What teacher didn’t teach in school, my tutor is doing. My tutors are doing the work for the school teachers.
If my son gets A or A*, I will tell my son to kiss and hug his tutors. -
to restrict the need for tuition to those who need it … easy, ks parents will purposely tell their kids to flung all their test and voila, qualify for tuition.
easier to qualify by failing the test … than to score high high to get prizes …
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