THE desire of parents to see their children excel over their peers in exams (and hence the need for tuition) is commendable and not "undesirable" ("Free tuition good, but schools still main resource" by Miss Eden Chua; Tuesday).
This is because a good education would mean a promising career for these children, and thus allow them to break away from their low-income family background eventually. This is also aligned with the Government's call for our people to constantly upgrade ourselves, be they workers or students.
However, expecting schools to provide extra classes for these needy students would result in a strain on the schools' resources and require more of the teachers' time and efforts.
This would further burden our teachers and would make the teaching profession unattractive, due to the long hours involved.
Instead, I encourage the setting-up of more voluntary tuition groups to help needy students. For the students, it demonstrates their aspiration to improve their studies. For the voluntary tutors, this allows them to give back to society. Furthermore, the setting up of these groups within the various constituencies would be one way for the students and tutors alike to bond with their local communities.
Lee Kek Chin
This is because a good education would mean a promising career for these children, and thus allow them to break away from their low-income family background eventually. This is also aligned with the Government's call for our people to constantly upgrade ourselves, be they workers or students.
However, expecting schools to provide extra classes for these needy students would result in a strain on the schools' resources and require more of the teachers' time and efforts.
This would further burden our teachers and would make the teaching profession unattractive, due to the long hours involved.
Instead, I encourage the setting-up of more voluntary tuition groups to help needy students. For the students, it demonstrates their aspiration to improve their studies. For the voluntary tutors, this allows them to give back to society. Furthermore, the setting up of these groups within the various constituencies would be one way for the students and tutors alike to bond with their local communities.
Lee Kek Chin
