It’s not easy been a student today. Thirty years ago when I was a student, tuition was a term virtually unheard of – only the weak ones had tuition.
Today, the tuition industry is worth S$1.4billion in Singapore. 9 in 10 students are reported to have some form of enrichment lesson. Hothousing students has become the norm. And it is not without good reason…
I did my O levels more than 3 decades ago in 1988. I still keep the English paper. Comparing the English O level exam 30 years later in 2018, the level of difficulty has gone notably higher. In 1988, comprehension was simply based on inferential skills and vocabulary power. 30 years later, apart from the fundamental inference and word power, answering techniques are required for specific questions such as Language Use, Unusual and Effective, Irony, Writer’s Craft, Contrast and Effect, paraphrasing etc…
To all students who are reading this, you have a much higher hurdle to clear. I know.