Is our mainstream education system no longer capable of nurturing our children: Forum letter

ALMOST every child I know up to the age of 10 is attending some form of enrichment lessons or training, in addition to their usual school commitments. Instead of attending kindergarten from the age of five, as in the past, children as young as six months are being exposed to enrichment programmes.

This is an additional financial burden for parents. But what becomes of those who are unable to afford such additional education? What becomes of those who choose not to send their children for such activities?

It makes me wonder if our mainstream education system is no longer capable of nurturing our children. Do those parents realise they are creating a vicious circle of even more parents trying to ensure that their children beat the system?

Children today are growing up at a breakneck pace. I see this with my nieces and my friends' children. They have no chance to explore, to play in an uninhibited way or to develop their own inclinations for arts, sports and so on.

They are not allowed to experience failure. How then do they learn to recover from one, when it is no longer just a paper chase? Did past generations of Singaporeans grow up in such a way? This phenomenon is deterring me from having a child of my own. - Letter from Ng Woon Yang

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