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When tuition centres tell only half the story behind ‘90 per cent distinctions’
We need higher standards when it comes to advertising in the tuition industry. Could a ‘nutrition label’ of information help?
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Singapore families spent $1.8 billion on private tuition in 2023. It is an intensely competitive market catering to parents who are understandably anxious, says the writer.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Kelvin Law
A Facebook tuition group of 6,000 members says it’s run by an “ex-MOE teacher”, with only “2 slots left”. A tuition centre website boasts that 90 per cent of its students scored A or B grades, displaying their names, schools and trophies. A flier company offers targeted distribution outside primary schools, secondary schools and junior colleges as a standard service.
A quick search online shows how routine such tactics have become – I saw these examples myself – and is what the Ministry of Education (MOE) hopes to regulate.
