Tuition - Total Waste of Time

Reading Chong Sheau Ching’s column today in StarTwo about tuition (Best Tutor in the world), got me thinking about this unnecessary trend, which is spreading among school children as young as 4 or 5 years old. Heck, even babies who are barely a year old are already sent for special classes to teach them how to read! It’s getting more ridiculous by the second.

I never attended any tuition classes and my grades did not suffer. My mom never believed in all that tuition crap. She and my dad said that tuition is only for weak students and so far, I was not considered that weak. She also preferred me to have sufficient playtime and rest time so that I’ll look forward to school the next day. Frankly, I completely enjoyed my primary years. They were so carefree days! Even though I had bad times, I never grumbled about them. I was too busy playing and making new friends.

My niece is only in Standard 2 this year and she is already attending tuition classes 3 times a week for all the subjects she is taking. I mean, hello??? This is so stupid! Well, my sis insisted on sending her so that she can improve on her Bahasa Melayu and other subjects. She is in a Chinese school so there is no doubt that there is tough competition among the students.

I think this tuition thing for primary students especially lower primary kids is totally and completely unnecessary.

Why on earth should they be robbed of their childhood?

Why should they be forced to study all the time?

The kids will behave like robots if they study 24/7. It is just sad.

Isn’t 7 or 8 hours in school enough already? It’s not like the schoolteachers are so lousy. I just don’t comprehend the mentality among people, or more specifically parents, have nowadays. When kids come back from school, they are tired already, so they need to rest. After resting, I’m sure they would want to hit the playgrounds to play with their friends. When they are done playing, they have to come home and wash up and have dinner. After dinner, it’s time for homework. After homework, they can watch TV, read a storybook or hit the sack.

Imagine how tight a kid’s schedule would be if she/he attended tuition classes? They would be rushing like mad to reach the tuition center in time. Some students don’t for tuition to learn. Instead they go there to flirt with the opposite sex. This will happen when the child hits puberty.

If they are already studying more than they need to at a young age, they will eventually get bored or sick of studying when they are older or when they reach the secondary school years.

Yes, I know that parents are busy working nowadays. It’s just too bad and cannot be helped. But it doesn’t mean that they can’t take some time off from work and spend some quality time with their kids. Their kids would appreciate it very much. Think of your children. It’s not enough to buy them expensive things all the time. All they want from you is your time. They want you to pay attention to them. To listen to them.

The best things in life are free.

There is no need to spend money on tuition. You can coach your child yourself. There is no need for materialistic stuff. They only want your time.