Private Tuition in Singapore

Singaporeans’ Perspective on Private Tuition

Tutoring can range from one-on-one sessions taught by neighbors or older students to classes at franchised centers, as well as lessons taught over the Internet. Students from kindergarten up to Junior College level can be enrolled for tuition. The private tuition business has been booming in Singapore as clearly indicated by the fivefold increase of tuition centres over the past decade. There are now more than 500 centres around the island. In contrast, there are less than 350 primary and secondary schools in Singapore. Furthermore, Singapore has been labelled as a “tuition nation”. Figures from the Department of Statistics in 2008 showed that about 97 per cent of Singaporean students were enrolled in tuition and enrichment classes compared to only 79 per cent who did so in 1992. Likewise, in 2008, households spent S$820 million on tuition, double the figure in 1998. Last year, Moulmein-kallang GRC MP Denise Phua stated that the tuition industry “could be a S$1-billiondollar industry” by now, and asked if the government could set up a task force to better understand how much households spend on tuition and if solutions are needed.

Are you part of the “tuition nation”? Have you have had tuition for any subjects? How helpful was the tuition? Did you see a significant improvement?

A survey by Blackbox Pte Ltd interviewed more than 700 Singaporeans over the age of 18. The survey is conducted online to find out Singaporeans’ perspectives on private tuition. The summary of the results are as follows:

Why do you think tuition is least beneficial to above average students? Discuss with your friends and teachers.

We can see how Singaporeans deem private tuition as a necessary tool for success. The cost of tuition is relatively more expensive compared to school fees. Only about 49% of parents spend less than $500 on tuition fees for a child a month while the rest of parents spend more than that. Tuition in Singapore starts from $22/hour and can stretch up to $72/hour per Secondary 1 student per subject. For a lower-middle income household that makes S$4,800 a month, it is obvious that this is a relatively high price. With increasing prices for basic food items, transportation fares, utility charges and healthcare fees, we may soon see a widening gap in grades between students from different income groups if tuition is available to some groups and not others.

If teachers earn more money giving private tuition rather than teaching in schools, do you think we are going to lose our teachers?

Private Tuition A Global Phenomenon

According to a report released in July 2012 by the Asian Development Bank and the Comparative Education Research Center at the University of Hong Kong, 97 percent of all Singaporean students, nearly 90 percent of South Korean primary students and about 85 percent of Hong Kong senior secondary students receive tutoring.

The number of Asian parents spending heavily on extra lessons has increased. Many asian families devote vast sums of money to supplement government education. “The most dramatic number is Korea,” said Mr. Bray, who is also a professor of comparative education at the University of Hong Kong, “where households are spending the equivalent of 80 percent of what the government is spending.”

Focusing on South Korea

Looking at the figures for private tuition in Seoul, we can see startling numbers and reasons for the take-up rate of tuition. If anyone thinks Singaporeans’ tuition craze has gotten out of hand, “we’re not as bad as the Koreans”, as former Education Minister Ng Eng Hen noted.

In South Korea, where the tuition craze has reached fever pitch, the government has tried to regulate the industry with measures such as introducing a curfew on the operating hours of tuition centres and considering a ban against tutors teaching students what they have yet to learn in school. Despite these efforts to dampen demand for tuition, about 7 in 10 South Korean pupils still enrolled for lessons outside school last year and the majority of this group had tuition in academic subjects, based on official statistics. The population’s total expenditure on private classes was 19 trillion won (S$22.3 billion).

Mr Cho Moon Ho, a representative of the Korea Federation of Hagwons (tuition centres), said, “As long as there is demand for tuition, we will provide. The regulations are only widening the gap between the rich and poor, as the rich will hire private tutors to study more.” In a highly competitive industry — which is resisting government efforts to dampen the demand for it — these private-learning centres have had to raise their game offering free trial lessons or cash incentives for referrals.

Official figures last year showed that on average, the top 10% of students in public schools — in terms of academic performance — spent almost twice as much every month on private classes outside school (approx. 307,000 won) as compared to their peers in the bottom 20% (approx.161,000 won). This top 10% of the cohort makes up 80% of students receiving private tuition.

Back to Singapore – How much tuition is enough?

The Ministry of Education (MOE)’S stance is that they understand parents want the best for their children and it is the parents’ decision whether they want to engage tutors. MOE has, however, advised parents to provide their children with sufficient rest and avoid cramming them with too much tuition. MOE maintains that Singapore’s schools provide a “holistic” education to meet the educational needs of the students. A statement by them says, “Students will be adequately prepared for the demands of the school’s curriculum and national exams by their schools.” This statement clearly seeks to convince parents that going to school alone will be sufficient for their children to prepare for national examinations.

Parents, however, remain sceptical. Many think that if their children do not go for tuition, they will not have a fair start with their peers in terms of studies. Furthermore, their children will have access to more resources such as additional practice questions, test and mock papers if they opt for tuition.

Certain students who are academically weak do need private tuition so long as grades remain the main indicator of achievement in our society. However, as tuition becomes more expensive, this may worsen social mobility in Singapore as only the richer students will be able to afford good expensive private tuition.

The 4 self-help groups in Singapore – Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC), MENDAKI, Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) and Eurasian Association offer subsidised tuition for all races. Furthermore, the number of collaborative tuition centres which provide tuition programmes for students has grown to 65 since the Collaborative Tuition Programme was launched in 2002. There are many success stories of students who have done well in national examinations thanks to the tuition from these various self-help groups. These alternatives also enable lower income students to catch up with their peers who are more privileged. However, there have also been many complaints on the effectiveness of this type of tuition for students. The complaints are mainly on the capabilities of the tutors and the high student-to-teacher ratio.

Unlike South Korea, our government has not imposed preventive measures to curb the tuition craze. Considering that the demand for tuition is unlikely to subside in Singapore given the highly competitive education culture, it is probably more practical for the government to continue doing what it has been doing so far – giving parents the liberty to send their children for tuition (since imposing preventive measures has proved to be futile in the case of South Korea) and at the same time, offer affordable, subsidised tuition through self-help groups to lowerincome families.