The Necessity of Home Tuition

Home tuition or enrichment classes after school three days a week. Sounds familiar? That is the lifestyle of many school children in Singapore today. We have placed a high importance on an education with brand name schools and outstanding grades. This is in hope that it will potentially lead to good jobs, salaries etc. Intense competition in society has come to a point where it is a given to have private home tuition.

Is home tuition a must? Necessity or not depends on the individual’s motivations, abilities and of course, parents. We want what is best for our children, hoping that he/she will be a top student and do better in life than us. It is understandable to push our children through home tuition and enrichment classes. The question is... how much is too much?

It is a fine line between having home tuition which is beneficial and being way too burdensome on the child. Once crossed, our children will feel over exhausted by these extra activities and lose interest in their studies. It removes their interests in acquiring knowledge and instead, are forced to engage in rote learning to do well in examinations. Overloading them with lessons three to five days a week would not make them brilliant at once. Instead, it is about taking a measured approach to their learning and providing home tuition as a guidance and especially, in moderation.

Home tuition should be used as a tool to supplement what has been taught in school or to enforce a little discipline in our young ones. It will be beneficial for weaker students who need more guidance in their school work. A tuition agency can help find a private tutor who can help to instill discipline in our children to complete school work on time. If a student is able to cope well with the school curriculum, home tuition is not a necessity. A performing student should be given opportunities to pursue activities that he/she like and be given ample space to develop themselves.

Let them explore their environment and play while they are young. This will give them memorable experiences which will be meaningful to them. Our children will be grateful to us for that.

Looking back at our education, we did not rely on home tuition as much as it is today. Have times changed? Has competition increased? Times certainly has changed looking at how our country has transformed into a knowledge-based economy where human capital is our only resource. Competition has increased as we have become a global city and an ideal location for expatriates to establish their career. The education stakes have been upped many folds and failure is not an option. However, there are many aspects to life than just being a top student and getting the best job. Consider that and weigh our life priorities. Home tuition is an important aspect of our education system but it certainly is not a need as perceived by many.