What would you do if you want your children to get better grades? For most parents, the answer would be to send them for tuition.
If the tuition centre does not help your child get more As, go to another centre. Otherwise, get a home tutor to help with exam techniques.
But to take tuition for extra classes so that they can better guide their children through school work? That sounds far-fetched by Malaysian standards, even if the classes are offered free of charge.
“Where will I ever find the time?” laments Cara Chan, 40, a freelance graphic designer in Johor Baru and a mother of three boys aged two, six and nine. Although she works from home, managing a household with three young kids and her occasional work is already a lot to handle.
And despite having difficulty in teaching her two older children who are in a Chinese school, the English-educated mum says learning Chinese to coach her kids is not an option for her. She does, however, send them for Chinese tuition several times a week.
Norazlina Ahmad, 42, and Nasarudin Ibrahim, 46, have four children aged between six and 13 in Chinese schools.
Though the couple, both freelance tour guides based in Selangor, welcome the idea of having classes for parents, they don’t think it’s practical, citing time constraints.
Chandrasegaran M. Sundram, 40, whose seven-year-old son studies in a high-performance Chinese school in Subang Jaya, Selangor, pays RM360 for his son’s tuition fees, which include lunch as the centre is located just opposite the school.
“It’ll be a good idea if there are tuition classes for us parents. But I’m not sure if we can master the lessons well enough to be able to coach our children,” says the driver, who plans to enrol his younger daughter in a Chinese kindergarten next year.
Hairdresser Annie Ng from Rawang, Selangor, agrees. The 48-year-old mother of three says she lacks the confidence to teach her children. But to go for classes? “I have my business to run!” she says.
There’s no denying the common philosophy among local parents: Leave the teaching to the professionals.
Besides, teaching parents so that they can coach their children is not as simple as it appears. For one, education styles and formats need to be age-appropriate. They also vary from year to year. Some parents may find themselves struggling with the different study modules of each child, say, between Year Five and Form Five.
“We do have requests from parents and teachers who want to join our mental arithmetic classes, but adult classes are exclusively for our course instructors,” says Ng Koh Thye, an assistant manager of the Kuala Lumpur-based UC Mas Education Group that pioneered the mental arithmetic programme in Malaysia in 1993.
He explains that under the UC Mas programme, each instructor is periodically evaluated to ensure they are adequately qualified before being upgraded to the next level. This means parents will also need to be fully committed to teaching their children level by level (which sounds like a full-time job!).
Ahmad Rizal Muhammad Said, founder of Mawar Group Education, which has 36 tuition centres under its franchise throughout the country, says the Malaysian education system is still manageable for most parents, hence there have not been requests for classes from eager parents.
By keeping classes to a maximum of 12 or 13 students per class, he says they strive to provide the same kind of attention that a child would get if he or she is home-tutored.
Would he consider setting up tuition classes for parents in the future then? “Maybe. It sounds like a good business idea!” he says, laughing.
Although some media reports make it sound as if getting A's is all that matters for a child, many parents today are more concerned about giving their children a balanced life. This means not bending over backwards to ensure good grades, as long as the children grow up into good, responsible adults.
Communications executive Sheemi Mayanti Abdul Jalil, who lives in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, is another parent who is not enthusiastic about attending classes solely for the purpose of coaching her son.
“I’ll be tempted, yes. But I value my weekends and free time too much!” The 31-year-old mum enjoys taking her two-year-old son outdoors every weekend.
She maintains that non-academic aspects of life such as values, appreciating nature and spending quality time together are just as important.
Meor Ahmad Shahril, 32, an account manager and father of three young kids, concurs. “My wife, a civil servant, and I leave the house before 7am and reach home after 8pm every day. We hardly have enough time for each other, what more extra classes!”
“Ultimately, we are Malaysians,” says Sheemi wryly. “We are not that kiasu ... yet. But that’s a good thing, right? When my son grows up, I want him to know that life is not just about having top grades, being successful and making lots of money.”
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