Monday April 24, 2006

The flawed ‘A’ syndrome

I REFER to the letter by Christine Lai “Are we sending the wrong message?” (The Star, April 17).

The gathering of all the smart pupils into one class to ensure the highest grades from that “best” class is a standard practice in most schools today. The best teachers are also reserved for this class.

This practice of selecting the only good students also happens at private tuition centres, as some tuition teachers actually reject weak students.

This is due to the “A” syndrome.

Schools do this to attain personal glory whereas private tuition centres do it to enhance their reputation, whereby through producing excellent results, they attract more students in subsequent years.

Who would want to sent their children to centres that do not get excellent results?
Gone are the days when extra coaching and tuition were only meant for weak students.
Today good tuition are only for smart students but such a privilege is not available to the weaker ones who really need such help and guidance.

The “A” syndrome has created a disadvantage to the students from the lower income families.
Quality private tuition has become so expensive that it is beyond the reach of these poor pupils. Private one-to-one home tuition is becoming a standard for those who can afford them.

Obviously, the chance of a student without these expensive tuitions of scoring straight As is much less than those who have those advantage.

Therefore, judging students based on merely the number of As without considering their socio-economic background would be rather unfair to those from poorer families.

Offering scholarships to only those with maximum As would offer an unfair advantage to those from affordable families who would have access to all the best tuition facilities.

There is a need to device a more comprehensive system to select candidates for scholarships and other awards, a system that takes into consideration the socio-economic conditions and not just straight As.

DR Chris Anthony