school

Was reading the New Paper and saw this really good letter written in by one of the readers...For those foreign readers, well, this is how our education system here works.

Why must children face such study stress?

I refer to the report, "Queueing Overnight For Children's Tuition" (The New Paper, 17 Dec).

Although it is heartening to note that there are self-help groups offering tuition for the needy, the act of queueing overnight shows the extreme lengths parents go to in the pursuit of good academic grades for their children, and it signifies a deeper problem.

The act reveals the underlying desperation and anxiety of parents, and probably even the children, as they sacrifice sleep and leisure time chasing the ultimate Singaporean dream of a straight-A report card.

What these young children do not realise is that once they get caught up in it, it is almost impossible to get out - studying hard and going for tuition classes become even more routine than eating.

Parents do want the best for their children, but unwittingly, they are causing their children pressure.

It is holiday season, but there is no respite from studying as these young students deal with a greater workload of tuition worksheets. Going out shopping or watching movies or even eating possibly induces guilt in them.

We are a nation that specialises in mass-producing a sea of young workaholics, who stop dreaming by the age of 12; who live and work for a future of prestige that is not entirely guaranteed; who seek escape in the weeks leading up to the holidays, but when the holidays arrive, are forced into another world apart from school - a tuition centre.

It is a shame to know that we have become so hungry for excellent grades that tuition centres are in such huge demand.

Studying, tuition, enrichment classes...why would anyone be proud to say he or she spent the holidays having tuition in some classroom with fluorescent lights and a brilliant whiteboard that blinds them from seeing that their lives are out of sync with how they want to spend it?

For those already in the rat race, it is too late.

Poor primary school kids

But for the primary school children, it is just depressing that they have to be weighed down by such pressure.

Studying takes up 12 hours or more of the 24 in a day once it hits crunch time. Energy drinks, coffee and midnight deliveries are rampant. Fast-food restaurants, cafes and Changi Aiprort are full.

The whole world is upon the student. The pressure from his parents, the pressure of his future, the pressure from himself as he re-reads the lines on "photosynthesis" in his Biology textbook, hoping to absorb it like a plant. It is all too familiar.

I remember studying at a cafe in Changi Airport once. A tourist queueing up at the counter inquired about the teenage patrons studying there. After an explanation from the cashier, he scanned the tables, amused. It was quite a sight for him. We sure made a good tourist attraction.

The Singaporean education system has to be changed, before the children feel the urge to flee the country once university calls.