Many parents complain about the local education system. They spend more time protesting against the teaching medium, the exam system and the syllabuses than educating their children. Worse, some simply give up and send their youngsters overseas.
As parents, do we ever ask ourselves whether we have contributed our share to help educate our young? No education system is perfect; and I believe education starts at home. We parents should often consider our own actions, not just criticise educators and government officials for doing a sloppy job.
The government spends millions of dollars every year to help young people who neither hold jobs nor receive an education. It offers skills-training courses, sets up counselling sessions and even creates job opportunities for them, in a bid to dissuade them from going astray.
These are, however, remedial efforts. Providing remedies is better than doing nothing, but the government must realise that prevention is always better than remedial work. Teaching parents how to educate their children is always more desirable than painfully shepherding the strays - potential delinquents - back onto the right path. Still, we cannot ask the government to do all the work.
These are some suggestions for parents.
First, we must create an English-speaking environment for our children: I don't worry about their Chinese proficiency levels. It's their English proficiency that parents should pay attention to. We should start speaking English to them at home when they are toddlers. If they speak English comfortably, it will strengthen their learning ability.
Second, we should encourage our young to take the initiative to read and study. We shouldn't let them rely too much on us: let them understand that they are responsible for their studies. Parents should consider refraining from taking annual leave to be with their youngsters when exam time comes. Otherwise, exams become parents' exams and students will begin to think: 'If I fail, it's my parents' problem.'
