As you know, stalwart reader, I started home-schooling the two kids in the latter half of last year for a variety of reasons. I wanted to break them into their new routine slowly, so left Chinese off last year’s homeschooling syllabus, hoping to pick it up this year.
Well, school started for the year in Malaysia today and I went around to a few tuition centres, trying to find some beginner classes. To no avail. J couldn’t believe the trouble I had. “Aren’t they tuition centres?” he asked. “Yes,” I replied. “Then why won’t they…tutor?”
Ah. Tuition might mean different things to south-east Asians than to others. Basically, I was not able to find a proper tuition class for the kids because I home-school. You see, the tuition centres follow the local schools. If the local school is teaching geometry in Maths, say, then the tuition centre will hand out additional geometry worksheets in Maths. After speaking to several centres, I’ve come to the conclusion that–with one exception–they are not independent in any way. They do not take the initiative. The school local to them sets the tone and the so-called tutors hand out extra work in that subject then, whether a student has mastered the topic or not, when the school moves onto the next topic, so does the tuition centre.
So what you end up with are so-called tuition classes that are nothing more than enforced homework/subject drill classes. And I’ve heard stories about both ends of the spectrum. From tutors who give out worksheets then spend the rest of the session sleeping (images often captured on students’ mobile phones then sent to their friends and, maybe, parents), to tutors who will only accept straight-A students so that they can tell (and show) prospective parents that all their students are excellent.
If you’re like J, you’ll be pausing right now and saying, “Hold on just a sec, Kaz. Why would straight-A students go to tuition? Isn’t it more for students who are struggling in particular subjects?”
You’d think so, wouldn’t you? You’d be wrong. The obsession in Asia over education is exactly that. Beyond rationality. (A clockwork orange, so to speak.) Even in Australia, I was forced to go for tuition in Maths and the Sciences until the tutor pulled my parents aside and told them to stop wasting their money. In a way it was a shame, because I liked my tutorial classes and cutting them out of my schedule only meant more time that my parents could spend castigating me for my intellectual and otherwise laziness. But that’s a story for another therapy session.
Back to the here and now. I want my children to learn Chinese. Nobody will teach my children Chinese because the tuition centres are nothing more than before/after-school babysitting institutions. Everybody believes every child has to go to tuition even if they’re topping the class. If you suggest that, as things stand, sending good kids to tuition doesn’t make any kind of sense, you’ll be accused of being jealous and trying to scupper their child’s progress in life. Sigh.
Of course there’s another bright side to this whole tuition nonsense. It means that if a child doesn’t do well for whatever reason, the parent is given an automatic stick to beat the child with. That is, “We spent all this money on you. We made so many sacrifices. You went to the best tuition centres, and this is how you repay us? You’re a disgrace to the family.” If the child dares–DARES!–to suggest that s/he doesn’t like, say, the sciences and doesn’t want to be, say, a doctor, then the entire extended family will pile on with huge truckloads of guilt and generally call the child ungrateful, selfish, pathetic, and so on. It’s a venerable tradition that’s been handed down through the ages.
In summary, this whole tuition thing works well for adults, but isn’t a joyride for the students.
- For teachers, they can work a double job as a tutor and, if they’re focused, can rake in a couple of thousand extra ringgit a month. It also means that, as teachers, they don’t have to put the effort into teaching because the tuition centre will pick up the slack (and the blame).
- The tuition centre has its syllabus rigidly set and will supposedly improve a student’s performance through sheer tonnage of additional worksheets and damn the actual goal of teaching. If a child doesn’t perform, it’s either the school’s or the child’s fault.
- The parents can completely ignore their children’s education, rack up martyrdom points and blame the child for everything that goes wrong.
Meanwhile, remember that one exception to the tuition rule I spoke about? That’s Kumon Malaysia. It turns out Kumon do have initiative and do have classes for those wanting to learn Chinese in an independent setting. Ready for the punchline? Those classes are only available in the capital, KL (Kuala Lumpur). :: insert shriek of exasperation here :: Kumon has just expanded into Johor, you see, and have been told to concentrate only on English and Maths for the time being.
In desperation, I’ve put the word out and it looks like we’re going to have to depend on a private tutor for Chinese. Which is a damned shame when we’re surrounded by Chinese-language schools and Chinese-language tuition centres, not to mention a sizable population of Chinese themselves. I want our kids to socialise with other children learning Chinese but it looks like I’m not to be given the chance. Welcome to the 2011 tuition racket.
ADDITIONAL: The icon for the homeschooling category comes from Artua – Icon Archive > Kids > Harry Potter
