MOE studying how to discourage tuition centres from playing on parents’ fears

The amount spent on tuition, which includes lessons conducted at home or at centres, has risen over the years. PHOTO: ST FILE

Elisha Tushara

UPDATED Feb 05, 2025, 04:52 PM

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SINGAPORE - The Education Ministry (MOE) is studying ways to discourage tuition centres from undesirable advertising practices that prey on parents’ anxieties, said Minister of State for Education Gan Siow Huang.

Ms Gan was responding to Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Bukit Panjang), who asked if the MOE would instruct tuition centres not to advertise their programmes outside school premises. Mr Liang witnessed it happening outside a primary school in his constituency on the first day of school on Jan 2, 2025.

“We think that it unduly induces parents to sign up their children for tuition, and that is not healthy. Our schools certainly do not support such practices,” she said.

Ms Gan was responding in parliament on Feb 5 to several MPs, including Dr Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah (Jalan Besar GRC) and Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang), who had asked about the rise in private tuition spending, and what measures the MOE would take to mitigate its impact on educational equity and social mobility.