Singapore prides itself in having one of the best education systems in the world. MOE’s website states that “We have a strong education system. Singapore students aim high and they achieve very good results. This is recognised around the world.”
Beneath this system, students and parents are struggling hard to keep up. A 2008 Sunday Times special titled “Tuition Nation” reported 97 of 100 students surveyed takes tuition. A parent was quoted as saying “The tuition is necessary, or he will lag behind his classmates because they all have tutors too.”
Another Sunday Times report in 2010 described a parent paying $850 a month to ensure that her child could make it into the Gifted Education Programme.
So the question is, are our students achieving very good results because of the strong education system, or because of the excessive tuition culture?
A good, strong education system should give parents the full confidence that the process will produce the desired outcomes for their children. So the current situation in Singapore where tuition is needed to sustain the high levels of achievement is puzzling.
Can the Minister offer some explanation to the phenomenon here?
Most tuition centers are focused on results-oriented pursuits, helping the students to achieve better results in examinations. Is the Ministry tracking the tuition trend here to see how the tuition culture could have affected MOE’s objectives of providing a broad-based and holistic education to the students?
It is a long-overdue task to allay the parents’ worry that if their children do not have tutors, they will lag behind their peers.
Does the Ministry have a holistic approach to convince parents that as long as students do their part to put in serious effort in school, the education system is sufficient to bring out the best in the students?