An analysis on the growing need for private tuition reveals a challenge facing Singapore policymakers: to continually defend the effectiveness of its education system or to acknowledge the ‘shadow education system’. Ms Midrange believes that the current education system in Singapore is sufficient and that it is counter-productive for parents to send their academically-inclined children for tuition. Proof Bray (as cited in M. Normal, 201 3), supports and agrees that Singapore has a good education system that delivers high-quality outputs.
In fact, Singapore education system Is ranked 5th In a global education survey, behind Finland, South-Korea, Hong Kong and Japan (Charles, 2012). However, despite having good education system, Singapore are still turning to private talon_ A 2012 Asian Development Bank report on tuition stated that over 90% of students in Singapore are enrolled in tuition centers and an estimated US$680 million were spent by parents annually on the engagement of tutoring services (as cited in Chug, 2013).
Mongo (2013), In his article titled Singapore ‘Talon Industrial Complex, opined that there has been a shift In the perception of talon In a way that talon has evolved from being reserved for only the weaker students, to becoming ‘a compulsory service’ or almost all students. Many parents now deemed tuition to be necessary to give their children a competitive edge and are willing to pay the high cost as long as their children show improvements In their tests and studies.
According to Proof Bray (as cited In M. Mammal, 2013), the examination-based educations system that Singapore has In place, also led many anxious parents to turn to tuition to give their children this edge and to improve their academic ability. R. Sandpapering (2013) also mentioned an issue of ranking systems of schools as an issue with the education system. The ranking system adds According to Proof Bray (M. Mammal, 2013), the growing trend of spending money on tuition Is not without Its problems.
Based on his research, he cited worsening social the best tutors while the poor ones will be forced to buy tutoring in order to remain in the race to do well in school”. Chug (2013) believes that the policymakers could connect better to the issue of the need for private tuition by thinking out of the box. He is of the opinion that the policymakers in Singapore tend to be unreceptive to views and new ideas and instead defend the status quo, which in this context is to continually defend the effectiveness of its education system.
In supporting this point, In conclusion, tuition, the shadow education industry, should be seen as a supplementary pillar to education system in Singapore. There must also be some form of regulation to inject quality and responsibility into the industry. The Government cannot continue to defend mass education and say tuition is not necessary. Singapore Senior Minister of State for Education Midrange Rajah, mentioned in a 2013 parliament session that Singapore education system “run on a basis that tuition is not necessary’ when questioned about the ‘shadow education yester’ and the impact that it brings.
