As published in The Straits Times
My parents wanted my elder sister and me to enjoy our childhood, so they did not send us for private tuition in our early years in primary school, even though our results were borderline pass (50-60 marks).
When I struggled and did not pass most of my mathematics and science papers from Primary 4 to Primary 6, my parents then decided that I needed private tuition to better understand the topics and to pass the subjects.
Tuition improved my results from borderline passes to As. With the improvement, it would seem that extra private lessons are mandatory for students to improve their results. But that still leaves me with some questions such as whether private tuition is a good to have or a need to have.
Singapore is well-known for having one of the best education systems, yet $1.8 billion was spent in 2023 on tuition (Spending by S’pore families on private tuition rises to $1.8 billion in 2023, Jan 19).
Should education come at such a high cost? If we reduce the existing class sizes in schools, would that help teachers focus on helping the students with poorer understanding, and eliminate the need for tuition, which is expensive and time-consuming? Also, how can we ensure that less fortunate students are not left out when expensive private tuition is not an option?
Cho Shao Ming