Real reason behind Singapore’s obsession with tuition

[Chenonceau]

limlim:

Chenonceau:

The assumption is not that there are no constraints but that we should try and examine the constraints and think outside the box that constrains us. It is not at all easy to think out of the box that represents our reality so yes... I can understand that many people can only see constraints.

But Steve Jobs did. Were there constraints when he wanted to sell songs in iTunes for 99c? Yes. Plenty.

well said........

Thank you dear. It's nice not to be slammed for once.

[limlim]

cherryc:

Chanced upon this post which was written 2 yrs ago but still v relevant. The problem has existed for so long . Strange, keep seeing the word \"wayang\" being used.


\"\"Ten to twenty years ago, when teachers were teaching formally, I mean really teaching to pupils in class, giving them lots of homework, then tuition was not necessary. Not many tuition centres those days, esp. the elite tuition centres.

These days, the schools (may be under MOE's direction) adopt \"creative teachings\". Students do a lot of 'wayang' in schools, eg, presentation, shifting of furnitures to form groups for discussion like they are university students, YOG support - no school, XYZ festival - no school, PSLE Oral-no school, anything happen-no school, e-learning-no school. Teach less + Learn more. All kinds of nonsense cause the lessons in schools to be very diluted. i.e. not the solid lessons we got 10-20 yrs ago. So, where/how to catch up? Tuition. Think MOE/teachers expect all pupils to go tuition.

Partly the introduction of GEP(Gifted Ed Prog) is to be blamed for the insecurity in parents. In the prog, they taught secondary sch level math to pri sch kids. Since every parent thinks their children are gifted, they do not want to lose out. So, they are willing to fork out tuition fee as high as $150 per session. This type of elite tuition is for the rich.

Who own the tuition centers.............. hmm.......

[SAHM_TAN]

limlim:

I'm just sharing my opinions. If it is isolated view, than, no need to be bothered by it.

But if parents agree that there is potential conflict of interest.. and may result in lower quality of teachings in schools.. then, we can talk about the next course of action.. if any..

It is not about me or you..

It is how the MOE can provide higher quality education to the nation's young.

And not rely on private businesses to do it's (MOE) job.

I was just curious.

I believe it's always about the mes and yous. Things are changed because of the mes and yous. There are achievements becos of the mes and yous. Terrible English I know.

[SAHM_TAN]

Hmmm, I'm ok with GEP. There are kids who need it. Kids shouldn't suffer becos of adults' insecurities.


I do believe that all kids have potential but the way that education is like a production factory many kids with potential are lagging more and more behind.

So I have to take charge. I'm not sure if my kids will benefit or suffer becos of my intervention and action though. :rotflmao:

I will know 5 yrs from now.

[kitty2]

limlim:

phtthp:

[quote=\"Sim TT\"]Only those really passionate and those who cannot make it outside will stay on. Overall standard of teachers dropping.

Something has gone wrong, if teachers allowed to moonlight.

if NIE trained teachers or current school teacher can command $100/hr, who still got heart to teach in schools?

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=33270

not surprising if standard of teachings dropping at schools..

in many industries, employees are not allowed to work for competitors after a certain period after resignation.. MOE not only doesn't have that, but they even allow teachers to moonlight![/quote] :goodpost:

[limlim]

SAHM_TAN:

I was just curious.

I believe it's always about the mes and yous. Things are changed because of the mes and yous. There are achievements becos of the mes and yous. Terrible English I know.

If there is a law to ban tuition, I would support it. (just my stand)

of coz, that is not realistic and there are really students with needs.. I'm not suggesting it.. but just to make a point.

it just occurred to me that your post may have hidden meaning.. or maybe I read too much.

I prefer my kids can rely on teachings in school, and not have to resort to sourcing for tuition outside.

If pple want to buy drug from me, I sell, coz they need it. But I would support a ban on drugs, if the supply of drugs lead to reliance on drugs and make pple unable to survive w/o drugs. But if the govt doesn't ban drugs, and someone with a genuine needs for it comes to me, I would sell it to him/her. If it is for the overall good, I rather no one rely on drugs and I would gladly stop selling drugs too..... if the hospitals could do a good job at providing useful drugs, it will be for the better good for all.. I support it even if it meant I couldn't sell drugs anymore.. it's a good thing.

[SAHM_TAN]

Oh ya on the subject of homework. Now, I’m ok with the amount, 6 months ago, I wanted more and more. Maybe becos I’m a SAHM, so I rather she complete all her homework in school, then I will find out what’s her area of weakness and work on those instead. No use getting her to keep doing work that she already knows right?

[SAHM_TAN]

Errrrr limlim, what sort of drugs were you thinking of selling in your example?

[wonderm]

verykiasu2010:

cherryc:

Chanced upon this post which was written 2 yrs ago but still v relevant. The problem has existed for so long . Strange, keep seeing the word \"wayang\" being used.


\"\"Ten to twenty years ago, when teachers were teaching formally, I mean really teaching to pupils in class, giving them lots of homework, then tuition was not necessary. Not many tuition centres those days, esp. the elite tuition centres.

These days, the schools (may be under MOE's direction) adopt \"creative teachings\". Students do a lot of 'wayang' in schools, eg, presentation, shifting of furnitures to form groups for discussion like they are university students, YOG support - no school, XYZ festival - no school, PSLE Oral-no school, anything happen-no school, e-learning-no school. Teach less + Learn more. All kinds of nonsense cause the lessons in schools to be very diluted. i.e. not the solid lessons we got 10-20 yrs ago. So, where/how to catch up? Tuition. Think MOE/teachers expect all pupils to go tuition.

Partly the introduction of GEP(Gifted Ed Prog) is to be blamed for the insecurity in parents. In the prog, they taught secondary sch level math to pri sch kids. Since every parent thinks their children are gifted, they do not want to lose out. So, they are willing to fork out tuition fee as high as $150 per session. This type of elite tuition is for the rich.

I did a simple survey in my kid's school. Almost every kid has tuition. No joke. My kid is going to lose out because we cannot afford tuition. The lessons delivered in class are shabby and homework given minimum, how to expect kids to excel without tuition?

I urge MOE/teachers to revert back to old style teachings, cut off all the wayang in school. Give them lots of homework to wear them out, thus too tired for further tuition, then everything will be equal. Presentation can reserved for Pre-U/Poly or University lah... Want pri sch kids to sell wat to investors? Too fast too furious. They better master their \"ratios\", trigonometry first... Teach more, learn more in school.\"\"

out of 185 primary schools, how many need to revert ?

I know some schools are not as bad as what you painted it to be

I also know many parents are complaining about one school in Jurong West recently with top PSLE scorer as being too much homework too much drilling too numbing on homework

It is really not easy to be teachers - some parents prefer the teachers to give more homework and view the supplementary classes as free additional teaching for the kids, some don't like it for taking up too much of the children's time and leave them with no childhood.

I have heard a lot of good things about the good schools. And I have heard that tuition becomes necessary now because in some schools, teachers don't teach well. I am not disagreeing with this. But on the other hand, do we see less tuition/enrichment classes for students from these top schools? maybe VS2010 can share your gut feel? no need hard statistics, just some gut feel?

My own impression is that students from good schools do still go for additional tuition/enrichment. This is not necessarily a bad thing as long as the children enjoy the lessons and don't feel burnt out. Some say that will favour the rich because they can afford good enrichment lessons. Again, I don't disagree. Say we can ban tuition, then those whose parents have the time and ability to teach will still be at an advantage over the others?

On comparing schools to fast food chains, there are some good discussions here about constraints and the need to go beyond the constraints. Just another way of looking at it, when I expect minimum differences between burgers from different Mac branches, do we really want to \"produce\" exactly the same graduates (or 12-year olds) even if MOE has a way to do it? I will not want to see that, but that's just me. One may say we don't want to consider our dear chidlren as \"products\" of the education system, but we want to consider the teaching in different schools \"services\" delivered by the system and our children are just the \"customers\", then again education is such a unique service which doesn't just depend on the \"service provider\" but very much on the \"customers\" themselves. That brings me back a few page when people talked about students have different level of listening skills. Besides that concentration, motivation, ability to grasp new concepts will all play a part. Oops, sorry, I am drifting to constraints.... No wonder we are going in a loop.

Still, I think a lot of the points made here are good and valid, even though they seem to be conflicting at times. Maybe that's why it is not easy.

[limlim]

Teachers are stressed also bcoz of MOE’s policies…