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I love spending time talking to parents after my classes and lately, there was a question that was frequently asked. Most parents wonder which school they should send their children to. Actually, let me clarify that question. The parents wonder what kind of school they should send their children to.
The education may vary depending on which country you are from. However, in general, schools in my country are divided into four types:
- National Government Schools
- Government Vernacular Schools
- Private Schools
- Home Schools
Before I get into what each school is all about, please note that the first two options in my country is free, whereas the third and fourth options require some form of fee. Both the National Government School and a Government Vernacular School follow the national curriculum. The only difference is that Government Vernacular Schools may teach subjects such as Mathematics and Science in the school's chosen language. this will either be in Mandarin or Tamil.
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Private Schools, be it Chinese Independent Schools or International schools will follow their sown curriculum which would commonly be the Unified Exam Certificate (UEC) or International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). Home schools can be conducted with whichever curriculum that you so choose.
So if you are wondering which school you should send your child to, let me start with a question:
Will You Send Your Child Abroad?
In general, it boils down to your plan for your child's future. If you are planning to send your child abroad, you may want to consider private schools. In Malaysia, this is divided into Chinese Independent Schools and International Schools. Thus, if you are planning to send your child to countries such as the United Kingdom or Australia, an international is your best bet. However, if you plan to send your child to Taiwan or China, a Chinese Independent School would be more suitable.
The reason being that these schools better prepare your child for the work and study culture of that particular nation. Here's an example, I am a product of a Government Vernacular School. All my life, I have been trained to memorize, work hard and never question. Thus, when I went studying abroad, it was a complete paradigm shift for me. Some may even call it a culture shock. Suddenly, I was told that memorizing was bad and I had to question everything in university. I did not do badly in my studies, but I had to re-learn many of the learning methods in university.
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However, if you are planning to enroll your child in a local university, a national government school or a government vernacular school is sufficient. Choosing between a national government school or a government vernacular school is simple. It depends on what second (or third) language you want your child to learn.
Home schools are an option if you find that no schools mentioned above offers the curriculum that you are interested in. A good way to go about this is to check if the curriculum you have chosen fro your child is accepted in most universities locally and abroad.
But... Which Is The Best?
It depends on the following factors:
- Money
- Time
- Exams
So let us start with money. Good schools generally come at a cost, it will cost more because the classroom sizes are smaller and the teachers are likely more experienced (academic qualification is not the only benchmark). In addition, good schools come with good classroom equipment such as smartboards and tablets. This costs money as well. Now, if you find that you have to pay an exorbitant amount but has a classroom size of more than 25 and poor classroom equipment, you may want to consider other schools. Otherwise, you're good to go! The above factors also applies to home schooling centres whereby students will attend and learn based on a particular home-school curriculum.
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In terms of home schools, if you choose to personally home school your child, do take note that it can be very time consuming. It is extremely flexible but do take into account the social component that is lacking in home schools when compared to attending conventional schools. Time should be taken into consideration here. Your child is not a robot and so attending school for six days a week, six hours a day is not very healthy. Do take note of this when reviewing your school's timetable, the amount of time spent in the classroom does not necessarily mean your child learns more.
Exams is also an important element to look at. You can tell a lot from an exam paper. Does it generally have more short answer questions instead of multiple choice questions? Does it require you to justify your answer or just provide the right answer? Short answer questions and justifying your answer requires higher order thinking skills. This is necessary to help your child develop problem solving skills. In addition, exams should be limited in schools as having too many tests does cause the child to perceive learning negatively.
Conclusion
Of course, the most important aspect you should consider when choosing a school is the teacher. It may not be easy to know but a simple chat with the teacher will help you assess how he or she is like quickly. No matter how good the curriculum or how good the infrastructure may be, the quality of a teacher plays an important role in your child's development.
On a final note, this may not be representative of your country's education system, but I hope you find this useful. In addition, I only write this to inform and not to insult nor criticize any particular system. I hope the information provided here will help others make this important decision in their children's life.
Often times, ultimately for most families, it comes down to their personal finances commitment, and scholarship options available out there - asides from considering the quality of teachers and schools. Things ain't getting any cheaper nowadays. I have always shared my insights with my 'school parents' that there isn't going to be THAT one perfect school that can fulfill all the demands, but with some flexibility, I am sure we can enroll our kids in the 'most ideal' school for them. Thank you for sharing your valuable thoughts here, @alvinauh! :)
A few parents told me how they select school is by options, and when they say option, they meant financially. It's really a long term decision, really. If a kid starts school at 7, that's at least 10 years of investing in that decision. Those who send their kids to private school will have that burden on their shoulder for a while, for sure.
But then, the opposite may also be true - the thought of "what if" will weight at the back of the parent's mind. What if I've sent my kids to a better school. What if I'm screwing up their future because I didn't try hard enough?
Decisions decisions decisions.
This was nice post. I work in American public education, so it is interesting to see what other countries offer. I think you had some really good points. Class size can make a huge difference. -@bozz
Thanks @bozz for stopping by. I always had the impression that class size in the states was small. Just found out from a friend that it was not so.
As an American, I really appreciated this post!
In the United States, we have a variety of options as well - public schools (divided into general & charter schools), private schools, and you can also elect to homeschool your children.
The one that is the most puzzling to me, although I recognize that each child is different, is parents who choose to send their children to private school. As in China, there is a fee associated, but as local property taxes pay for your public school (general or charter) I struggle to find the justification for spending extra money on private school.
The other thing to note (sorry, this is longer than I intended when I started) is that there are a variety of resources in most communities that allow children the benefit of socialization while also benefiting from the personalized education they can get from home schooling.
Hi @alvinauh. I am a preschool teacher and administrator. Our school goes up to the 3rd grade (9 year olds). My son went through the conventional South African schooling system (12 years), achieving his National Senior Certificate with university entrance. Upon reflection, I hate the system, and am investigating unschooling. Let children grow up naturally, following their strengths and interests. It's totally out of mainstream, and faces many challenges. Why should our children be forced into society's idea of success? Anyway, lots to investigate and discover!
Hi there, thanks for stopping by! Interestingly, I was just told about unschooling as well and I do have to agree, there's a lot of appeal in it. However, I think it depends entirely on how the industry perceives unschooling. I've been comparing some curriculum and they mostly gear towards what the industry needs, although they can be rather slow. Thus when it comes to jobs, if a company would hire from a particular school, that should give the child an advantage. Also, there's the social aspect in school where you make friends and learn to collaborate. That being said, there is always the option of being an entrepreneur.
Thanks for dropping by, do drop by from time to time, I would love to find out how unschooling is going as part of my day job is to research on curriculum.
Hi @alvinauh, definitely a good post for young parents to start planning ahead. I think most people (ourselves too sometimes) tend to follow the crowd, and if we decide on something against the norm, you can imagine the pressure and tons of "free advice".
End of the day, it's the parent's choice, and they should notice when their children are suffering in one of the learning environments. Sometimes parents may not be aware that there are other methods too, which is why this is an enlightenment post for them.
I'm happy it helps, I was just reminded on unschooling. Planning to do another post on it.
I know what you mean about suffering in a learning environment. Hopefully with changing trends, all learning environments will be fun in the future
Unschooling is really "something", but the parents have to invest quite a bit of time. Sorry, scratch that. It's a LOT of time.
I've met this family of nomads in Phuket - mommy, daddy and 5 kids. One of the sons was looking at pictures of Ang Ko Wat and asked Dad what it's all about. Dad just said, "You know what? Let's buy tickets there next week and we'll see for ourselves."
Dad then told me, "Why limit our kids learning to pages and screens, when we can afford to show them the real thing?" Quite mind-blown seriously.
Oh yeah, whole family is also on a raw food diet! #extreme
@maverickfoo you are 100% correct - with unschooling parents have to invest so much of their time, and it's not always possible especially when financial constraints force them to spend most of their day at work (this is mostly the case here in SA). The family of nomads in Phuket have the right idea - I absolutely love it - but as I hinted at above, not everyone enjoys the financial freedom to do this.
Something to aspire to, maybe? :)
Most definitely! To be honest, one of the reasons I'm here is to attempt to free myself up somewhat!
a very good post. and I need to learn from your post @alvianuh
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