02 April 2016
During a Parliamentary sitting in March last year, Singapore’s Members of Parliament urged the government to “do something” about Singapore’s pervasive tuition culture, which they allege has gotten out of hand.
These remarks were made at the Committee of Supply Debate for the Education Ministry. Member of Parliament Lim Biow Chuan weighed in on the issue, saying that tuition has become a “crutch” for students to the point that they “have lost the skill of self-directed learning”. Ms Denise Phua noted that the tuition culture is so pervasive that even polytechnic students go for extra classes.
With due respect to MP Lim and MP Phua, I believe that these statements are unwarranted for students at the secondary and higher levels.
The vast majority of students at secondary, junior college, and higher levels turn to private tuition only out of recognition that they genuinely need assistance in their school curriculum, and they believe that a private tutor will help them keep up with their work.
I acknowledge that there will always be a strong element of “kiasuism” on the part of overly anxious parents. This applies mostly to primary and secondary level students. I agree with Members of Parliament that parents need to adopt a more well-rounded view of education and not heap undue pressure on their children.
My students are mostly university, junior college, and polytechnic level students. They seek my help in understanding the concepts and applications of what has been taught in class. Their schedules are tight and they have lots of activities in school, but they also want to make the time for private tuition because they want to understand the concepts better and be able to handle difficult tutorial and assignment questions.
University and polytechnic students in particular are very often faced with difficult concepts to master. This is especially true in the subjects I tutor, namely Mathematics and Statistics. Some of these students genuinely need experienced tutors like myself to offer a helping hand and guide them to successful mastery of these intricate concepts which require a high level of intellectual maturity and sophistication.
Therefore, I strongly disagree with MP Lim’s assertion that tuition has become a “crutch” for students to the point that they “have lost the skill of self-directed learning”. My students genuinely seek to improve their understanding of the difficult concepts at hand, and are NOT using me as a “crutch”, but as a useful resource where my expertise and experience can be tapped.
My students certainly have NOT lost the skill of self-directed learning. After I explain the concepts and key examples to them, they will always revise their work on their own and rely on their own hard work and industry to reinforce their understanding and knowledge retention of the subject.
My experience with university and junior college students is that the fast-paced nature of their lessons compels them to seek my help. The mathematical and statistical concepts can take lots of time to master, and the questions posed in tutorials also require a high degree of mathematical sophistication.
Many university lecturers like to heap many new concepts and assignments into a single module or course, forcing the student to learn at a quick pace. Some students, faced with time constraints, have difficulty keeping up. Despite this, my students are mature enough to handle the pressures of school, and they seek my help because they genuinely want to improve their understanding and master the subject well.
Members of Parliament have noted that Singaporeans still have the mentality that getting good grades is the ticket to securing good jobs and a bright future. While we can lament the fixation of grades, we must also be realistic and recognize that employers will always place an emphasis on grades, in addition to examining other factors such as CCAs, and relevant work experience. They key to this is to recognize that while good grades are important, are factors are also equally crucial and deserving of attention.
ADDENDUM:
In his response to the MPs’ concerns, Mr Heng said Singapore needs to make the transformation from a “scarcity mentality” that focuses on a single pathway to success to an “abundance mentality” with multiple pathways.
“If we think there is one pathway to success, whether it’s school or at work … (we’ll) do everything we can to get on that pathway,” Mr Heng said. “For as long as there is only one path to success, the pressure will manifest itself as some point.”
This happens even in education systems that have abolished national exams, such as the Primary School Leaving Examinations, and adopted a through-train system.
On the other hand, having an “abundance mentality” will allow for an inventive, resourceful mindset to think about new ways of doing things and creating new pathways to success, said Mr Heng.
While changes in the economy have created jobs requiring specific skills and multiplied pathways, our thinking about education and pathways have not kept up with these changes, he added.
One way the Education Ministry has tried to change such thinking is through the Applied Learning Programme and Learning for Life Programme, and to create opportunities in every school.
Parents are beginning to see how each school can offer something interesting and special, Mr Heng said.
Over the next few years, efforts will focus on enabling this mindset transformation, and while Mr Heng said he is open to the merits of particular ideas, resources and attention have to be focused on what will make the biggest impact.
Having studied systems from all over the world, Mr Heng said: “I do think that this SkillsFuture initiative and this transformation I talked about in terms of learning for mastery, learning for life, is really the transformation we need to make and there are many things we can do within this context.”