Wake up- 6 a.m. Get ready in 45 minutes. School bus arrives- 6:45 a.m. School goes on from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reach back at home and rush to Tuition center and then from one center to another. Back at home at 9 p.m. fully tired and exhausted. Where is the life, the fun, all the creativity and playfulness of childhood? All vanished behind the humdrum of tuition. Are these children really kids or mere robots?
There is a growing trend for parents to send their primary school kids for tuition. Is it due to the increased competitiveness in our society? Should primary school children go for tuition? Some parents believe they need the additional help only for subjects they are weak in. Others say it is not necessary at such a young age as they would then be missing their childhood.
It isn’t essential for primary schoolchildren to go for tuition. If parents are able to commit their time to help their children, that would be best. Workbooks can be used to supplement school work for additional practice and reinforcement of what has been taught. Tuition just makes them dependent on external help. Children should be trained to be an independent learner. A check on the student’s school work weekly to see if he or she needs help in any areas and working together to improve those areas is always the better option.
The need for tuition is on a case by case basis, but it is better to avoid it unless absolutely necessary. I believe, whether a child needs tuition or not, it all depends on his personality whether he has the initiative to learn from parents or the teachers. Primary school children should not be sent for tuition just because everyone else is going. Tuition could be better termed as a revision activity because they seldom do revision. Parents are over stressing the kids by sending them for tuition from a young age as they hardly have time to relax and they will miss their childhood life.
Sending children for tuition is just giving them a solution for not paying attention in class. They will just rely on asking the tuition’s teacher if they have missed out anything in class. They should take on the responsibility of paying attention in class and ask when facing any doubts in their lessons.
Children need to experience the most from their childhood. If their childhood is based only in their education and what the parents arranged for them such as music, ballet, tuition and etc. the fun and leisure will only be in their dreams. Children now spend almost half of the days in school studying without much rest and if they are sent for tuition after school, they would definitely be exhausted to the maximum! This could result in poor health from overworking and as they are tired, this may result in them unable to pay attention during tuition classes. The tuition teacher might not like their attitude and scold or punish them for not paying attention and this will make them hate that particular subject.
The concept of tuition and coaching classes may have an advantage of getting different ideas from all the classmates, immediate replies to questions, healthy discussions and more clarification on all topics. But all such advantages fade away in the light of distractions due to being in a big group socially connected.
Parents need to fork out extra money to educate their kids. This tuition culture will lead to school teachers not being fully committed to teaching during normal school hours as they would want their students to have tuition classes. Children nowadays are like robots, they lack creativity in problem solving. Sending them to tuition not only eases the school’s teachers’ burden but gives them an opportunity to extra income. As a result, many school teachers are teaching with an irresponsible and partial attitude.
B N Satnalika Foundation 