‘Let students go offline’

Tuition centres want to resume face-to-face sessions

Tuition centres are hoping for permission to resume operations under the recovery movement control order (MCO) as online sessions are fraught with setbacks.

Fiona Lin, 34, co-owner of a tuition centre here, said during the MCO, many activities went online, overloading students with screen time.

“Since schools opted to teach online, students have had to sit in front of a screen for long periods, and when it comes to tuition classes, no one finds it enjoyable anymore.

“This is because in the past, students studied and carried out cocurricular activities in school.

“When they attend tuition classes later, they are in a different environment and setting.

“Currently, students have to go through so much screen time that they can be overwhelmed.

“This affects parents too since they have difficulty monitoring their children for long hours on end,” she said.

Lin said at the moment, she decided to put some classes on hold rather than force students to go online.

“We will continue face-to-face classes if we are able to reopen, hopefully soon,” she said.

Mohammed Thajudin Abdul Muthaliff, 63, founder of another tuition centre that has been in operation for 30 years, said they tried conducting online classes as well but it did not work out.

“Whether it is teachers at schools or at tuition centres, we all prefer face-to-face classes.

“It is just more effective that way as 80% of our students and teachers agreed that online learning was not that effective.

“And as schools are allowed to reopen from June 24, I do not see why tuition centres cannot reopen.

“Our premises are not confined and we do not have students coming in all at once, so it is very easy for us to follow the standard operating procedure (SOP).

“The existing SOP for schools is already good enough for us, and we should be able to follow it completely,” Thajudin said, adding that those who relied solely on tuition for their livelihood were increasingly concerned about their situation.

“This is especially true for full-time tuition teachers.

“We are all concerned as the Education Ministry has addressed the state of schools, but not tuition centres,” he said.