Your Top 3 Considerations for Choosing a Tuition/Enrichment Centre

Forest Gump’s mum once said: “Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get.” Sometimes, don’t you have the same thought when it comes to selecting a tuition centre or enrichment class?

Choices are aplenty, but you won’t know which one suits your child until you actually give it a try. The problem is, you can’t go around testing one centre after another because by the time you think you’ve hit THE IDEAL ONE, your child would have gotten so stressed out changing teachers, plus you’d have wasted a whole lot of money and effort.

So, what should you consider before deciding on which centre/class to sign your kid for? We pinpoint the following three:

#1 Can the centre give results?

For most parents, the No. 1 reason for sending your child for tuition is in the hope of improving his/her grades. This happens a lot during the post-examination (especially mid-term) period. Getting a good teacher is the first step in helping your child achieve better results. Therefore, you will want to look out for the centre’s track record and its teaching staff’s qualifications, e.g. years of experience and credentials. More importantly, try to find out about the tutor’s teaching style and whether his/her methods can motivate your kid to excel.

Tip 1: Make sure your child will be taught by the teacher that you signed up for. There have been cases where students attend a centre to benefit from a certain tutor yet get short-changed with replacement or stand-in tutors that don’t meet the mark.

Tip 2: Your child has to make an effort too. Don’t expect a centre to guarantee results if the student is not willing to learn and improve. Teachers can only facilitate. Ultimately, it is up to your child to score the homerun.

#2 Will your child fit in there?

Some children do better with 1-to-1 tuition while others enjoy the challenging interactions in a group class. Understand what works better for your child before shortlisting your choices. If possible, arrange for a sit-in session to get a better grasp of the environment and also to speak to the teachers there.

Tip: Be aware of the centre’s policies on matters such as make-up classes. We’ve heard horror stories of centres that don’t allow students to replace lessons and yet their teachers have no qualms about postponing classes when they have to be absent for personal reasons. You’ll want to choose one that allows you flexibility to reschedule classes when your child has to skip a lesson.

#3 Is it practical?

Consider the location of the centre and whether it’ll be feasible to send your child there. Someone may have recommended you to a great tuition centre in Sengkang, but if it means having to commute three hours from your home in Jurong there and back by public transport, it’ll probably be better to find a more convenient alternative.

Also, consider the cost of tuition and your family’s budget. Parents in Singapore are said to spend up to S$1.1 billion a year on tuition; some forking out several hundreds or thousands of dollars each month, according to this report by The Straits Times. However, not every parent can afford to pay premium dollars charged by one of those ‘prestigious’ centres nor send their children to tuition or enrichment classes every day of the week. 

Tip: Beware that your child doesn’t suffer from tuition burnout. Be objective about whether your child really requires that much tuition or extra enrichment classes, especially when his/her timetable is already maxed out. It is important to prioritise as attending more classes than what your child can cope will result in decreased concentration and motivation.

Let KSP’s LearnConcierge help you

Instead of worrying and stressing over whether a centre can really guarantee an improvement of results from “Cs” and “Ds” to “As”, or if a more expensive enrichment centre equates to better quality, or how credible the teachers are and how well they can motivate students, leave it to our experts to find the right centre for your child!

Experience our new LEARNConcierge, a one-stop portal to get FREE recommendations on HUNDREDS of tuition and enrichment centres in Singapore!

Whether you’re looking for a good tuition centre to improve your child’s results or an enrichment centre where your child can pick up a new skill, leave it to us to find the most suitable options to match your child’s learning requirements, so you don’t have to do the search yourself!

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