Real reason behind Singapore’s obsession with tuition

[cherryc]

verykiasu2010:

3. because kiasu parents scared to lose out to the next kid who may score higher than own kid - scared to lose face, scared the child cannot get into preferred school, scared to lose bragging rights among relatives during CNY dinner .... the list goes on

What if we tell you we are not , would you believe us ? My friends and I do not compare to the next person, but I am only worried as a whole generation, we lost out to the external environment if WE ALL go off the wrong track. Many parents have other means to send their kids overseas etc and they may do as well if not better. I would appreciate all those with successful careers and successful kids to share their experience instead to fill up the gaps in the education system.

From the link :

http://singaporemind.blogspot.sg/2012/03/importance-of-expectations-in-education.html

\"\"You think about it ...does it make sense to put our children through this intense competition in education only to have them lose out when it comes to university places and jobs to foreigners later on? The whole system puts Singaporeans on a treadmill to no where. The intense competition in the school system merely serve to push down our own children into pigeon holes of declining expectations to enter a workforce in which they have little edge over some one from Philippines, China or India. This whole system is not about making the Singaporeans better than everyone else but making the Singaporean as bad as everyone else.\"\"

[autumnbronze]

Ok dunno whether this if :offtopic: ornot but will share this.


Think I may have mentioned this before.

My DS1 is in K1. My MIL, a tutor for many moons herself, is obsessed with preparing my son with P1 stuff NOW. Her reason?? \"The competition, the competition\" ... she has been duly influenced by the parents of her pupils.

I am at my wits end. Its a losing battle for me cuz my DS is not stressed, but rather enjoys being nourished academically. My DH was also prepared before entering P1. But he burnt out a little. And he was bored in class. Thank goodness he was not disruptive.

So what am I doing about it?? Teaching and reminding him (preparing him for the future) to be considerate and helpful in class. What else can I do

[Chenonceau]

autumnbronze:

Ok dunno whether this if :offtopic: ornot but will share this.


Think I may have mentioned this before.

My DS1 is in K1. My MIL, a tutor for many moons herself, is obsessed with preparing my son with P1 stuff NOW. Her reason?? \"The competition, the competition\" ... she has been duly influenced by the parents of her pupils.

I am at my wits end. Its a losing battle for me cuz my DS is not stressed, but rather enjoys being nourished academically. My DH was also prepared before entering P1. But he burnt out a little. And he was bored in class. Thank goodness he was not disruptive.

So what am I doing about it?? Teaching and reminding him (preparing him for the future) to be considerate and helpful in class. What else can I do

I ain't best to give advice because I was stressed last year when DS is in P5. What I did do in Lower Primary was to look past all his lousy grades and encourage him to explore learning in directions that enthused him. He read a great deal.

The exposure to a wide variety of knowledge domains has stood us in good stead for PSLE Science, English and Math... Memorably, we borrowed a video called the Invention of Zero. He loved that and explored numbers etc... enthousiastically from that springboard... We messed with stuff in the kitchen and made things explode. All excellent preparation for the \"competition\" but so FUN!

But in P5, I still got a shock... but thanks to the wide-ranging exploration of the early years, we can catch up and turn things around quite fast. Of course, I did not know it would come in useful for PSLE... but I am glad God knew and ordered my steps before I realised what I needed to do.

Just play around with learning. It all comes together at PSLE.

[Binanti]

Nonetheless, there are also responsible parents whose kids don't even watch TV, let alone play computer games nonstop and much more..... this is parents responsibility to handle the childrens and show then the right path........


http://www.3gorillas.com/home-garden/small-appliances/dehumidifiers-2.html

[Binanti]

Hi,

smart kids who were praised when they played e.g. video games well will soon get addicted to it and before the parents realise it, they are inextricable from the addiction, casing much harm and conflict in the parent-child relationship, and all coaching and tuition for studies are just pouring money down the drain as the heart is on the games not on the books.It is certainly a path many parents are hoping for instead of \"alternative paths\" and \"we cannot stop parents from sending their kids to tuition\".


http://www.3gorillas.com/home-garden/dehumidifiers-3.html

[Binanti]

well i think you are right imami....... The current so called \"teach less, learn more\" system is to do away with the old system (after everyone complained about it for killing off the creativity of our people) of spoon-fed system/memorizing system and thus we are where we are now!



http://www.3gorillas.com/home-garden/dehumidifiers-3.html

[limlim]

autumnbronze:

limlim:

Anyway, many companies disallow moonlighting too, even for different industries like what you say.. whether they enforce or not, that is not relevant here, at this moment.

Errrrr, but isn't this the point of contention here :?

point of contention is MOE's policy.. they did not disallow moonlighting..

[limlim]

J and J:

It should be being MOE teacher is tough. With the number of students they handled 40 and even more per class + so many school activities especially if your leader enjoys lot of school PR activities, CCA, competitions, visits of VIPs and so on. Who initiates these activities? Should teachers handle these activities? Management should relook into these and free the teachers to focus teaching. Those activities can be outsource to those enrichment centres. Or the other way round, leave the teachers handle all these activities and engage tuition centre teacher to teach in the school since they have a way to help our children learn effectively. Would that be more productive?

I agree that teachers should not be tasked with non-teaching duties..

The main point now is, teachers, being heavily stressed, should not be allowed to moonlight.

[janet88]

verykiasu2010:

janet_lee88:

1) Are primary school teachers trained to teach ?
2) Can primary school teachers equip P6 students knowledge to do well for PSLE ?
3) If the answer to both questions is YES, then why do our kids have to go for tuition ?

1. yes
2. yes
3. because kiasu parents scared to lose out to the next kid who may score higher than own kid - scared to lose face, scared the child cannot get into preferred school, scared to lose bragging rights among relatives during CNY dinner .... the list goes on

It doesn't mean that when kids go for tuition, it's bcos they have kiasu parents who are afraid to lose to relatives' kids. If my kid doesn't have to go for tuition, I will be more proud and there is no need to brag.

[verykiasu2010]

cherryc:

verykiasu2010:

3. because kiasu parents scared to lose out to the next kid who may score higher than own kid - scared to lose face, scared the child cannot get into preferred school, scared to lose bragging rights among relatives during CNY dinner .... the list goes on

What if we tell you we are not , would you believe us ? My friends and I do not compare to the next person, but I am only worried as a whole generation, we lost out to the external environment if WE ALL go off the wrong track. Many parents have other means to send their kids overseas etc and they may do as well if not better. I would appreciate all those with successful careers and successful kids to share their experience instead to fill up the gaps in the education system.

From the link :

http://singaporemind.blogspot.sg/2012/03/importance-of-expectations-in-education.html

\"\"You think about it ...does it make sense to put our children through this intense competition in education only to have them lose out when it comes to university places and jobs to foreigners later on? The whole system puts Singaporeans on a treadmill to no where. The intense competition in the school system merely serve to push down our own children into pigeon holes of declining expectations to enter a workforce in which they have little edge over some one from Philippines, China or India. This whole system is not about making the Singaporeans better than everyone else but making the Singaporean as bad as everyone else.\"\"

sure I believe. last time a BBBA can get in NUS Biz school. now the 10th percentile is already AAA ....... or many AAAA have no chance to get into med school at all......... if I know my kid can slack and get BBB and still get into NUS, I won't bother about tuition or to be at the front of the cohort. But that is not the case and I am looking at a few hundred thousand $ to be poured to overseas uni :stompfeet: :stompfeet: :stupid: :mad: :moneyflies: :frustrated: :imdrowning: :?: