Not a maths grad either...

[yeokiwi]

Madam Anu S., 36, who paid $15,000 for her nine-year-old child to attend Mr Ong's classes, echoed other parents' calls for stricter rules and a regulatory body for the private tuition industry.

Luff.... without regulation, these parents are blind. How can they expect their kids to be gifted when they are not even exercising their intelligence(if there are any....)

[investor101]

Madam Anu S., 36, who paid $15,000 for her nine-year-old child to attend Mr Ong's classes, echoed other parents' calls for stricter rules and a regulatory body for the private tuition industry.

Luff.... without regulation, these parents are blind. How can they expect their kids to be gifted when they are not even exercising their intelligence(if there are any....)

I realized that many of us have vested interests to keep the system broken, to keep parents pay more and more for tuition. It's a gold mine out there. That's why during elections, I am always in a dilemma who to vote for. Voting for the wrong guy may prick my conscience, but it is good for the wallet.

[hyom]

I remember I used to enjoy my childhood a lot, with marbles, cycling and what-nots. Catching spiders too haha. Now kids as young as 4-5 don't have a life. I've heard of friends putting their 18-month old kids in enrichment classes (MindChamps, Shichida). It's quite horrifying (to me).

How could enrichment courses enrich our children if they hate the courses? How could they not hate it if they stop having a life?

Once my son is old enough to read on his own, I will direct him to use Google and Youtube to enrich himself on any subject that interests him. No more impoverishment courses for me!

[investor101]

I remember I used to enjoy my childhood a lot, with marbles, cycling and what-nots. Catching spiders too haha. Now kids as young as 4-5 don't have a life. I've heard of friends putting their 18-month old kids in enrichment classes (MindChamps, Shichida). It's quite horrifying (to me).

How could enrichment courses enrich our children if they hate the courses? How could they not hate it if they stop having a life?

Once my son is old enough to read on his own, I will direct him to use Google and Youtube to enrich himself on any subject that interests him. No more impoverishment courses for me!

For primary schoolers, I feel that if parents are willing to spend more time with their kids, to instill in them the love for reading and learning, and spend time with them for them to play, they will do well in their studies overall.

Many students who do so-so at PSLE eventually catch up and even surpass those 'high flyers' at PSLE who went into the so-called good schools.

Secondary school education, especially Math and Sci, is totally different from primary school. Once students leave enter high school, they learn a totally different set of skills for Math, which is much more relevant and practical and better. And they will carry these skills all the way through college and varsity. You can tell this because uni professors can solve JC and high school math problems, but are equally stumped at primary school math problems. From time to time, we get parents complaining to the Straits Times that primary school math is too tough for kids. When was the last time a parent complained that secondary school math and JC math was unrealistically tough?

The so-called good schools are only good because they act as a magnet for good students. They aren't good because they turned around the lives of the weak students. Most of these good schools don't welcome the weak students, lest they sully the reputation of the good schools. And these are the same schools that can put up preachy moral values as their school motto. I wonder if parents knew this, or choose to ignore this fact.