A question I often get asked when I bumped into any of my
friends’ parents was “Do you have tuition?”, upon finding out my grades were
slightly better than my friends. After getting asked this question once, I
shrugged it off as an overzealous parent trying to show concern for their
child’s education; but it is precisely a parent’s instinctive desire to better
the lives of their children, that they often turn to tuition as a means to
improve their grades, sometimes even against the will of their children. When I
have my own children one day, these are some considerations I’d remind myself
of.
Parent-child
communication in deciding tuition
In my personal capacity, as well as feedback from my peers, I
found that tuition is most effective once we view tuition as something that
will help us. Growing up, especially in primary school, I viewed going to
tuition as a chore, something menial that I did not want to do. Only when I get
older, became more sensible, that I understood the value of tuition and why I needed
and wanted to go for lessons. To parents, when thinking about sending your
child for extra lessons, engage them in the decision making process, learn
their wants and needs before determining whether tuition is right for them.
There is no right answer to whether tuition is a definite good or harm.
Tuition fatigue –
deciding alternatives
Parents, in a desire to drastically improve their children’s
results, may pack their schedule with classes. A classmate in my JC class went
for six different tuition classes (and we only had five subjects!). Overworking
your child may not be a sustainable way to education, as long hours and
inadequate rest may lead to burnout, exhaustion and not healthy in the gear-up
to major examinations. The key, as with everything, is moderation: moderating
the frequency of tuition classes, the number of classes and even the number of
hours per tutoring session. An alternative to consider may be Internet Tutoring:
cutting down on travel time needed for tuition and adopting a more flexible
schedule may be beneficial in reducing tuition fatigue. Discussing with your
child for such arrangements would go a long way in ensuring their welfare while
maximizing their learning.
Exams-smart vs critical
thinking and problem solving
A potential hazard that students may face when going to tuition
is that agencies, in a bid to show good grades to their parents quickly, is
that they use cheap gimmicks and tricks to cram information into the child
without actually teaching them anything. This tactic hinders your child’s
development in the future. Look out for centres that stimulate cognitive
ability and encourage problem solving. The ills of short-term exams-smart
tactics will show as the student progresses into higher level where
examinations drift away from rote memorization and more towards an assessment
of the ability to think and rationalize the world around them. So, do prior
research to tutors and agencies beforehand, observing whether their methods
really enrich your child’s learning or are they solely motivated to churn out
the right answer.
Considering
alternatives
In this digital age, a new trend of ad hoc tutoring has been
created aimed at improving the specific weaknesses of students and catering to
their needs. I feel that, this may solve the problems laid out earlier about
rote memorization, as tutors are now able to focus on distinct skill sets that
students are weak in and improve how they solve problems in the future. This
ensures that the skills they learn in one particular class remain transferable
to other areas in life.
Conclusion
The opinions expressed in this piece are shaped by my own
experiences growing up in the Singapore education system in the 21st
century and is supported by the feedback I have gotten from my peers regarding
their experiences with tuition. I cannot definitively say that these views are
representative of all students in Singapore, but I would say that these are the
most common pitfalls for tuition that students struggle with that are easily
avoidable. In a bid to ensure the best for your child, remember the age old
saying: “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions”.
By Ryan who recently graduated from junior college and is going to pursue a concurrent undergraduate and master's degree at law and public policy at NUS. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, writing and debating.
