Tuesday 11 September 2012

New Education Blueprint: Why the need for tuition? — SP Nathan

SEPT 11 — The new education policy fails to address one pertinent issue i.e. are schools sufficiently equipped to “school” students as they are supposed to do?

Why I raise this question is the mushrooming of tuition centres including home tuition right across the country. If the schools are doing all that they should be doing then why the need for tuition?

Originally extra tuition was meant for weak students to “catch up” with their studies. However, a casual survey will indicate this is not so. Almost everyone, especially in the urban areas attend extra tuition classes.

Schools can be said to be doing what they are supposed to do only if they do not need the “assistance” of the parallel education industry: tuition centres. These centres are testimony to the fact that the schools are not able to deliver what they are supposed to.

Many schools claim credit for the excellent performance of their students. While I don’t want to take away the credit due to teachers who have put in the extra effort in coaching their students; the question remains of the roles played by tuition centres.

The school curriculum should be such that a student can be educated successfully without the needing extra tuition. The existence of numerous tuition centres only indicates that something is seriously wrong with our current education system. Nowhere in the new education blueprint is this issue addressed.

Perhaps the NKRA team should look into this.

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