I was brought up in Scandinavia, and no one that I know of took extra tuition after school, and still today 30+ years later, it’s not common that children take extra tuition, as the children are expected to get help with homework from their teachers and parents, if they face problems, but most children manage on their own, which should be encouraged, as this in itself develops essential study skills, which will help them on a long-term basis, as they become more independent, self driven and pro-active in their studies rather than taking a passive, reactive attitude to studying, which is evident among many students, who are not used to being in charge or responsible for doing their homework on their own. And Scandinavian children manage as well in their studies as everyone else without all this extra tuition, and manage to become successful in life and at work, where they contribute a lot to their workplace’s success by being pro-active, self driven and motivated, actively involved in giving input and ideas to improving products and services, are solution orientated and capable of solving tasks on their own, which are beneficial to the companies.

If a child is required to study all the time, it only proves that the child is capable of studying and is diligent and good at following orders, but the question is whether they are capable of applying the knowledge they have gained, once they have passed their exams, since they didn’t have much time to apply the knowledge, but only to memorize the information to achieve good grades, since written exams focus mainly on assessing whether the students are capable of remembering what they have been taught and memorized.

And when it is proven that young people can only concentrate for a short period of time before their minds wander off and/or are interrupted by external sources, why are parents pushing their children to concentrate on their studies hours on end, when it really is wasted efforts, since their brains won’t be able to register all the new information and knowledge anyway. Then they might as well do other activities, where they develop other important skills.

There is an interesting article that deals with this issue, which can be found at the following link >> Why teenagers can’t concentrate: too much grey matter

From various examples, experiences and studies conducted around the world, I think we would do our children and businesses a favour by turning things around, stop the race of giving our children extra tuition till late at night and stop focusing so much on expecting our children to get good grades, and instead encourage our children to be more responsible for their own learning, independent, self reliant, pro-active and solution orientated, as these are, in my opinion and experience, much better skills and qualities for our children to acquire to become successful in future.

There is also an interesting posting on the subject of success and grades at the following link >> Do Good Grades Predict Success

The interesting thing about this posting is that the author found that it was quite difficult to measure what success really is, as success means different things to different people, and my point with this posting is not to judge other parents’ intentions, but to debate whether it is necessary for children to get extra tuition in their forming years and whether it’s worth the efforts and money in the end of the day or whether there are other ways to instill the skills and qualities they need to manage well in future.

To me success is to make a comfortable living doing work that I enjoy and to get opportunities to keep improving myself to become a better person and more knowledgeable and proficient at work and enough challenges to keep my mind working actively on finding solutions, and content, happy and grateful with what I have accomplished in life, knowing that I did the best I could to achieve my goals, and a good health to enjoy the activities I like without pain and discomfort and I wish the same for my children. It’s a personal journey and only we ourselves can find the right path for us to make us happy and content with life, and I encourage parents to ask themselves what it is that drives them and what makes them happy, as sometimes people lose track of what they really want to do in life, because of external influences and expectations.

This can be a daunting task for any young person, because choosing subjects on the basis of strengths/ability and interests and future ambitions may not necessarily be the same. For instance how do you deal with the situation where a young person shows promise for the science subjects, or at the very least the prospect of doing well in the exams, but this young person has no intention of working with anything, which are based on science, and so to him it doesn’t make any sense, why he should choose the science subjects.

But if he doesn’t choose the science subjects, he has to choose other subjects to qualify for furthering his studies, and these other subjects may be of interest to him, but not necessarily enable him to do well in the exams, hence the dilemma. My question is; should students choose subjects based on their ability to score a good grade at the IGCSE exams or should they choose subjects based on their interests, which are in line with their future ambitions, even if they are unable to score high grades? To me personally, scoring high grades at exams are not as important as choosing and studying subjects, which are based on interests and which a student feels contributes towards a future goal, because scoring high grades at exams don’t necessarily mean a successful career, as there are so many other factors at play in life.

It is this dilemma of ability versus interest that is the reason for this posting, because it has come to my attention that many international schools in Malaysia, which includes my kids’ old school, deny students the right to do an examination of particular subjects, if it is estimated that he or she won’t score a high mark i.e. an “A” at the IGCSE exam, and the students have no other choice but to do the examination outside school, so that his or her mark won’t bring the school’s average scores down.

Apparently it is a well-known practice, which parents seem to accept, as they don’t seem to challenge the school about it or is interested in starting a public debate as to why the school has this practice, in spite of it being very discriminating. It is obvious why the school does it, because in the end of the day, the school wants to have a reputation as being a place where the students score high grades at the IGCSE examinations, because it’s a school’s selling point, which gives potential customers the impression that the school is doing a fantastic job of teaching the students at a high level.

As to the last statement, this, I know, is questionable, since many parents make sure that the students get high grades by paying external tutors to study with their children years before the final exams, hence if the students get high grades, it is not the school’s credit and they shouldn’t take credit for it. On the contrary if every student was allowed to take the IGCSE exams, it would paint a much clearer picture as to how good the school is and where the school should improve, which should be the school’s primary goal, since the parents are paying to get a better education for their children.

However in spite of this wrongful practice on the part of the schools, parents continue to accept that only by pushing their kids to get high grades will they be able to take the IGCSE examinations at the school. I do know that a student can take the IGCSE exams outside the school by contacting the British Council, but in my opinion it is a discrimination towards the individual student to be denied the opportunity to sit for exams for all his or her IGCSE subjects in school based on the assumption that they can not score an A and therefore the school removes this threat in order to secure a high average score.

I wonder whether this practice violates human rights to equal opportunity and treatment or whether private institutions are allowed to do whatever they want, because there are no enforcing authorities for the private international schools, which demand equal opportunity for all students regardless of their ability to score a high mark or not.

Shouldn’t it be the school’s responsibility to ensure that students, who are not doing as well as the schools would like, get the extra attention needed to improve his or her chances at getting good grades at the final exams for the benefit of themselves and the school? Why should the school run away from that responsibility, when the parents are paying? Are the schools doing the parents justice, when they are taking our money but not delivering their part of the deal? Shouldn’t parents expect or even demand more from the schools, which gladly take our money for years, but let our children down in the 11th hour through discrimination?

I would like to raise this debate among parents of children attending international schools in Malaysia, and any comments received will be posted, but not necessarily commented by me, and I encourage other parents to setup their own blogs to discuss these issues to let the international schools know that they must take their educational responsibility seriously and give every student an equal opportunity to reach their full potential.

I agree that our children in an international school shouldn’t have to go for extra tuition, but since I wasn’t there to hear the Principal’s talk on the issue, I don’t know the school’s reasons, so I will tell you my own reasons for not sending my children for extra tuition.

1. I was brought up and educated in Denmark, and it was and still is very unusual that parents send their children to extra tuition after school, because it is believed that the teaching received in school is sufficient enough for the students to be able to pass their exams with fairly good results and with a bit of extra effort on the part of the student will result in very good results. Only students who have learning difficulties like dyslexia would require extra help by professionals.

As neither of my two children have a learning difficulty, I expect them to be able to do what’s required of them in school and do faily well at their exams, as I did in my school time, without the need for extra tuition. Parents in Denmark help their children if they need help and if parents are not able to help, the students have no choice but to figure it out by themselves or get help from their friends or teachers, which is a good way for them to learn how to be responsible and pro-active.

Being involved in our children’s education by supporting and helping them ensures that we take an active and positive role in our children’s lives, which also has the benefit of bringing us closer together. It also gives us parents an all-important understanding of our children’s strenghts and weaknesses, which will furthermore enable us to help and guide them properly and continuously rather than giving that responsibility to someone else.

2. Extra tuition defeats the purpose of teaching our children to work and strive independently, to become pro-active and take responsibility for learning the required topics in school, when they are dependent on extra teachers outside school to give them the expected extra edge or advantage to excel in their studies. I believe that extra tuition done by other teachers outside school downplay the students’ sense of responsibility for their own education and learning and may also confuse them, as they are given work that may not reinforce what they learn in school and may even be in conflict with the teachings of the teachers in school.

3. The school day in the international school, my children attend, is already quite long compared to national schools, and most days my children get home at 16:00 or 17:00 hrs, and they leave at 6.45am in the morning. That is about 9-10+ hours a day that they are away from home as part of their schooling, which is like an adult. If they go for extra tuition for another 2 hours or more, it means 12+ hours a day, which is much longer than the average working adult.

4. I would also worry that this information overload that they are exposed to from a young age will exhaust the children with the result that they don’t really understand what they learn, as there is not enough time for their brains to absorb all the information, hence they are forced to memorise it for one purpose only, to get good results at exams, but the moment the exams are over, they forget what they have learnt, hence the impact of their learning is only short-term. What’s worse is that they may not want to continue reading and learning throughout their lives, because they had too much of it prematurely, which limits their opportunities in future, because it’s unlikely they will be successful in business or in a career, if they are not prepared to keep reading and learning for the rest of their working lives.

5. I feel it’s important that my children are allowed to be children and have some free-time to do what they like to do at their own pace and without parent involvement and without expectations of being productive all the time. So much are expected of children today and even higher expectations when they become adults. Many are expected to live out their parents’ dreams of higher education and careers or more success in one way or the other. That is a lot of pressure on children and I believe if parents are not careful, our children may develop depression or other mental disorders or simply grow up without being happy or being able to enjoy life and life’s simple pleasures, because they can’t fulfil these expectations.

If I had a choice I would rather see my children, when they become adults, happy and enjoying life than seeing them dragging themselves out of bed every morning to go to work without any excitement or happiness in their hearts. And I believe that it is possible to create a life that combines happiness and success, personally and financially, one doesn’t have to exclude the other.

6. I don’t understand why there is such an extreme focus on getting good grades at exams, as from the newspapers we can read that most of the graduates don’t possess the required skills and abilities to be considered attractive candidates for employment. And the question is therefore, do straight As really give students an advantage, in the long run, over students, who have had more time to develop other essential life skills such as critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, interpersonal skills etc., since they had more time to be involved in other activities such as music, art and craft, sports and other creative hobbies, which has proved to strengthen them in other profound and all-round ways than purely concentrating on getting top grades academically. Perhaps a combination would give more desirable results in the long run.

7.  Finally I believe that if students do all their homework, classwork and projects, if they make an extra effort and do additional reading and practising outside school by themselves, if they have a pro-active attitude and seek help if needed and if a student doesn’t have any learning difficulty or other events prevents them from getting a fair grade at their exams, it is not extra tuition that is needed, but the school that needs to be approached. And since we send our children to an international school, and pay for our children’s education, we can expect the school to deliver results based on the students’ abilities and efforts. And if the school fails to do that, we have the right to address this concern to the school, rather than just give up and send our children to extra tuition, as it really shouldn’t be necessary.

I know of parents in international schools that send their children to extra tuition in order to get good grades at the exams, paying RM 600-900 per month for tuition for just one subject and who complain that the school takes credit for the students’ achievements. I think there is something wrong with this arrangement. I can understand that parents who send their children to local schools have no choice but to send their children to extra tuition, because they may not be able to expect much of the teachers, when they don’t pay for the school, but parents who pay premium fees in private and international schools have the right to expect good results without the need for extra tuition. And if parents don’t think or worry their children may not get the desired grades, they should bring it up with the school.

There are probably more reasons that can be thought of and I would like to hear your comments, but my opinion is that children only need extra tuition by teachers outside school, if they have a learning difficulty or if they need to catch up with the other students, because they haven’t been taught the topics before, if they have just moved school, or if for other reasons such as illness or involvement in competitive sports or other very time-consuming activities, they have fallen behind the rest of the class.

If a child cannot cope with his/her studies and none of the above reasons are applicable, perhaps we as parents are not taking our responsibility seriously enough of teaching our children the important lesson of responsibility and commitment to their studies or express our expectations clearly enough, and thereby allowing our children to do badly in school and that is our own fault, not the school’s, the teachers’ or anybody elses fault.

If our children don’t perform as well as desired, I sincerely believe that it is our own fault for failing to do something about it, and that doesn’t include considering extra tuition, because I don’t intend to spent money on that. If we could manage in school without extra help, so can our children, otherwise it would be the same as saying that we don’t believe our children can do as well as us and how would that effect their self worth and confidence?

Unfortunately I missed the introduction to the Key Stage 2 presentation by Principal Ms Jane Kuok, as my husband and I were stuck in heavy traffic in KL on the way to the school in Setia Eco Park, and only arrived at the school a few minutes before the Principal finished.

I was therefore pleased when the parents were invited over to their children’s classrooms to get another presentation by the individual homeroom teachers, which were done for all the years. The presentation covered different aspects of the children’s life in school, what is expected of them, how their routines are, how the award system works etc. and the parents were encouraged to ask questions.  

We also got the opportunity to see the work the students had already done and posted on the walls, pictures of each student and their country’s flag. It was nice to familiarise myself with my daughter’s new classroom and new teacher, whom gave us the impression of being a good teacher, firm but fair and very helpful. A very good impression indeed.

Some of us parents asked about the grading system for year end assessments done last term, as we have been confused about it, when we realised that the grades are based on the children’s age and other criteria, which we weren’t so clear about. My daughter’s new teacher was surprised to hear that our children had been told their grades, which at the time, seemed unfair, as they both had 2 mistakes in their numeracy test, but because one of them is 2 months younger, she got a higher grade than the other child, which is very difficult for them to understand. I therefore wanted to understand how it works, so I could explain it to my daughter. Their teacher explained that they were not supposed to know their grades, as these assessments are only meant to be known for the teachers to help them prepare the children’s year end school report. 

He continued to explain that the reason why the students are comparing their grades is because of the system they have been used to in their old school, but is not the right way forward and is not the way they do it in Tenby, where each student follows an individual path of learning based on their age, ability and so forth, which cannot be compared to others. They should only be compared to themselves to ensure they continue learning and are meeting the learning objectives, and is a way to check whether they are on par or falling behind according to their expected level etc.

He also mentioned that the parents are welcome to come to the school and ask to see their children’s assessment papers and to know their grades, if they needed to, but it’s not something that the parents should worry about, if their child’s report is fine and the teachers are happy with the child’s efforts.

Because it can be rather difficult to understand how this new grading system works, I was very happy to note that the next day my daughter came home and told me that her teacher had written a website address in her student diary that we could visit to read more about it. If you are interested, you can check it out by clicking here .

I think the Meet and Greet organised by the school was very useful, and especially the opportunity to meet with my daughter’s homeroom teacher and the class based presentation which catered to my daughter’s class specifically, as it gave us insigths into what is expected of our daughter and her routines in class, so we know what’s going on and can check with her to ensure she follows through.

And as this wasn’t good enough, it won’t even be the only time that parents get to meet the teachers this term, as the school will soon be inviting parents for individual parent teacher conferences with the teachers to discuss in more details about their children, as the Meet and Greet was only a general introduction about life in school and the school’s expectations of all children.

A very positive start for the new school year 2009/2010 in Tenby International School, and in line with the school’s aims of giving our children the best of the best in education.