THE ethos and Logos of Education Minister Heng Swee Keat's appeal to parents to forgo private tuition is sensible ("From 'study book' or du shu to learning with joy for life"; March 7).
However, changing the mindset of parents on this issue is much like Hercules cleansing the Augean stables.
The tuition industry has expanded so significantly simply because there is an overwhelming demand for private tuition.
Aiming for academic excellence is indelibly etched in the mindset of all involved in educating our children.
Parents cannot be faulted for wanting their children to do well in their studies.
School heads and teachers are pressed to conduct additional lessons in the afternoons, on Saturdays and during school holidays, so their students do well in the examinations.
Many parents, in their anxiety to spur their children to score better, send them for private tuition as well.
Some argue that if the teaching in school is done well, there is no need for extra coaching. This is a specious argument without substantive, corroborative evidence.
Even if it were true, there are still parents who would want their children to steal a march on their peers, in the unrelenting quest to be the creme de la creme.
The minister, in calling for a holistic education with a good balance of the academic, the extra-curricular, social skills, good character foundation and so on, did so in a visionary reach to better secure Singapore's future.
I wish him and all Singaporeans success, as we grapple with the here and now regarding tuition.
Ho Kong Loon
However, changing the mindset of parents on this issue is much like Hercules cleansing the Augean stables.
The tuition industry has expanded so significantly simply because there is an overwhelming demand for private tuition.
Aiming for academic excellence is indelibly etched in the mindset of all involved in educating our children.
Parents cannot be faulted for wanting their children to do well in their studies.
School heads and teachers are pressed to conduct additional lessons in the afternoons, on Saturdays and during school holidays, so their students do well in the examinations.
Many parents, in their anxiety to spur their children to score better, send them for private tuition as well.
Some argue that if the teaching in school is done well, there is no need for extra coaching. This is a specious argument without substantive, corroborative evidence.
Even if it were true, there are still parents who would want their children to steal a march on their peers, in the unrelenting quest to be the creme de la creme.
The minister, in calling for a holistic education with a good balance of the academic, the extra-curricular, social skills, good character foundation and so on, did so in a visionary reach to better secure Singapore's future.
I wish him and all Singaporeans success, as we grapple with the here and now regarding tuition.
Ho Kong Loon
