Choo Mei Fang,
The New Paper,
Tuesday, Jan 06, 2015
As he copied the solution to the maths problem sum onto his
worksheet, he realised that he was lost.
Primary school mathematics is tough.
But this was not a primary school pupil struggling with the
question. He was a father of two in a course on primary school
maths.
He was one of several parents going for "tuition" so they can
better understand what their children have to deal with in
school.
On Dec 6, Mohd Yusof Maruwi, who is in his early 60s, and his wife,
Sanisah Ismail, 45, attended an eight-hour session on solving
primary school maths problems. It was held at a multi-purpose room
at Muhajirin Mosque.
Thirty parents attended the Parents Mastery workshop organised by
Genius Young Mind, a centre which conducts maths tuition and
workshops.
Mr Yusof, who is also a veteran actor and comedian, has an
eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old son. The environment
officer listened intently as the teacher explained the "branch"
method to solve a fraction problem.
He has secondary education and last went to school 50 years ago. He
said that now, he cannot even understand his own notes. "I looked
at the question and thought, 'Alamak, so difficult.' Luckily, my
wife could understand what was going on."
These parents are part of a growing trend of parents who attend
classes so that they can help their children with their
studies.
The latest Household Expenditure Survey found that families spent
$1.1 billion a year on tuition. This is almost twice the $650
million spent a decade ago and a third more than the $820 million
spent just five years ago.
There are 850 tuition centres and enrichment centres registered
with the Education Ministry, up from 800 last year and about 700 in
2012.
The Parents Mastery workshop is conducted with the Students Math
boot camp four times a year and costs about $700.
The parents were taught at least two methods of solving each
mathematics problem.
After spending more than 15 minutes explaining a rather complex
problem, the teacher said: "Your child has to answer a similar
question in just a few minutes. So next time, don't be too hard on
them if they can't solve a question."
Another tuition centre, Learning Out Of The Box, also runs regular
workshops for parents. About 100 parents have joined the workshops
so far.
Human resource executive Cindy Leow, 42, went for several workshops
with her 12-year-old son, who sat his Primary School Leaving
Examination last year.
The workshops dealt with solving mathematics problem sums and
overcoming anxiety during examinations.
stomp
