Forum: MOE should publish assessment books written by teachers

A stack of assessment books. PHOTO: ST FILE

I believe most working parents are able to guide their children in their school subjects, but lack confidence in specific areas of the syllabus.

In English, for example, I have observed that most parents are competent with grammar rules and pronunciation.

However, in looking for books covering the areas they are weaker in, parents are often overwhelmed by the sheer number of assessment books in the market.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) should step in and create a publishing arm and invite active school teachers to create unique content and questions. If the teachers are not paid, then perhaps their names and the school they teach in should be included in the books.

These books would serve as complementary materials for parents.

Commercial assessment books should also be vetted by MOE with rubrics that measure relevance to syllabus, level of difficulty and variety of questions, among other things. This would give parents more confidence to use these assessment books as an alternative to private tuition.

Colin Ong Tau Shien

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 17, 2019, with the headline Forum: MOE should publish assessment books written by teachers. Subscribe