Learning from Singapore’s Tuition-Saving Techniques

There are ways to cut unnecessary expenses for education in Singapore. Find out how expats can save on tuition fees.

Expat parents always delight in boasting the raw talents of their children in any form and avenue that will bring them so much pride and esteem. Sending their children to prestigious schools is even another ego booster that is also a status symbol of financial profusion.

Competitive Education Landscape

If you happen to visit Singapore and stay there for a while, be not surprised at some resources parents had to put up for the education of their children. The school for Singaporeans is not considered as the sole educational facility that can provide learning to the children. Hiring private tutors is one supplemental measure parents sought to ensure that their children are ahead of the class.

When you chance upon a Singaporean or perhaps have the opportunity to live in their country, one will observe that they tend to have the high priority on education and diploma. They invest too much in education to the extent that it goes beyond the necessary. The rationale behind this phenomenon in Singapore is that it has been a practice in applying for a job that the employer looks into the grades of the applicant during his school years, and the kind of educational facility he went to studying, as well as the school he finishes from are major determinants of him landing in the position. Likewise, there is prejudice of the kind, of course, the applicant has.

The notion that the person has to be on top of the rest of the class is true. Consider being one of the good students. Being good just don't suffice as you need to excel way above the others that being good is just a form of mediocrity unworthy of recognition and praise. As a parent, one would strive to afford her child the best foundation he can have to prepare him for the arms to struggle with in life.

The Art of Private Tutoring

However, as time went by, Singaporeans have adapted methods to cut their tuition expenditures without having to sacrifice the quality of education availed by their children. It is through these cost-cutting measures that allow both parents and students to enjoy the labours of a hard knocked life.

Such is in the case of hiring a private tutor. Singaporeans have learned to secure the services of private tutors without having to pass by agencies that eat up fifty per cent of the professional fees paid to the tutor. Likewise, students from their end have modified their studying skills. Instead of purchasing a brand new textbooks, the habit of buying second-hand ones is available options when renting is not possible. Going to the library with all the resources made available for free, is also a reasonable technique, to cut expenses related to studies.

However, lessons in Singapore are relatively harder than it was before. Parents can no longer help their children do assignments nor can they make the projects for the students. With the "Teach Less, Learn More" policy, the students are to strive to pass the subjects without anybody's help, or with the aid of a person knowledgeable about the course. While this is a good discipline imposed on every student, it can also be tedious on the part of the slow learner. It will pose many stress and difficulties that may even cause one to drop out of school and not finish studies.

Parents have also become wiser in not signing their children for extra classes without having assessed first if the extra class is beneficial or just a redundancy on what the child has already learned in school. Getting a professionally qualified teacher to do the teaching to the child may cost almost twice as much than when one hires an undergraduate person who has basically the same knowledge with a professional, but in a rather cheaper fee. The Same teaching method, the same knowledge imparted, the much lesser fee to pay.

An expat who may have to deal with the same dilemma in Singapore should have a frugal mind to work his way out to finding the best deal for his child who will be studying in Singapore. Surely there are a whole lot of means to find the good offer for a lesser price, and still get the same good quality of learning. It is also clever to understand what the child needs and is in scarce of, before signing up for a class or a program. The basics of educational foundation can be supplemented at home while the fields of expertise can be learned from professionals and experts in the field of study.