The increasingly kena sai teachers

Okay, this is what I was supposed to blog about tonight. And now that I've gotten over the shock of being mentioned on another blog despite this blog being very much a low-profile, personal blog (not listed!), I shall start telling you something nasty about the state of education in Singapore today.

I'm not sure how representative this is, but I've been hearing stories from my tuition kid that are kinda disturbing. This kid has the misfortune of meeting all the kena sai teachers in Singapore, it seems. Over the years, her teachers either cannot teach or have no patience to teach. Once, she had a teacher who would tell her, "Why you so stupid?" whenever she asked her teacher to explain a mathematical question again. Not only is this a very mean thing to do to a pleasant 10 year old (she's 11 now), it's downright unprofessional. You are a teacher, and you are trained to teach. In no circumtances should you ever tell kids that they are stupid. Whatever happened to the kind, understanding, patient a-yo-yo teachers? Furthermore, if the kids are all beri clever, then there wouldn't be any need for teachers, would there? Honestly!

No wonder parents are in a mad rush to get their children into so-called elite schools. Maybe they have caught wind of the kena sai situation elsewhere. I don't blame them now.

I don't recall my former teachers being like that. While some of them were tyrants and dished out punishments like sushi on conveyor belt, they nevertheless did their best to teach me what I was supposed to know. There were crazy ones who gave me homework like there would be no tomorrow, but you know, they did have my interest at heart. No doubt they were over-zealous, but I saw the good intention, and I appreciated it! I wouldn't be where I am now without these teachers, and if I can turn back time, I would still want to be their student. But I do so wish they would ease a bit with the workload. Quality, not quantity!

So, tyrant teacher is one thing, but kena sai teacher quite another! Coming back to my tuition kid's worst nightmare come true, she recently got a new teacher in school, fresh out of NIE. Did I mention she must have had a change of no less than four different teachers since I started teaching her a year ago? It's a problem in itself, but I digress. This new teacher, accordingly, is a new form of terror. Not only is he fierce, cannot teach, and gives out homework like flying frisbees out for grabs, he is a sadist. My student told me that when she got 19/20 for her math worksheet, the teacher didn't look very happy. But when she got 11/20 for another math worksheet, the teacher looked very happy, and beamed at her.

I worry for her. I do so worry for her. I hope this teacher is not a psychopath on the loose.

Then yesterday, her class somehow managed to pissed off this teacher. I would agree that sometimes a bunch of 11 year olds can be tough to deal with. Children nowadays very cheeky and noisy and hyperactive, but even then I'm sure a teacher can find a way to deal with the situation. Give them detention. More homework. Stay back after school, clean the whole compound. Make them write lines, what have you. But certainly a teacher is wrong to give out plenty of worksheets for students to do and then make it clear that he will not be going through these worksheets with the class. And as if this wasn't enough, he also told the class, in all seriousness, that he is not going to teach them the next chapter of math, or go through their assessment books with them because MUAHAHAHAHAHA, they deserve to fail for pissing him off. Sounds like a revenge plot to me. Maybe he's just threatening them, and may not actually sabotage them like that, but I'm still disgusted with the infantile behavior unbecoming for an educator.

Furthermore, the dude seems to have no interest in teaching at all. I was going through the girl's school worksheets with her when I found out that some of the answers were marked wrongly. I am very sure that my girl's answers are correct, so I told her to clarify these with the teacher again. At this, she told me that she had already done that when she didn't understand why the answers turn out to be so, and guess what the teacher replied?

teacher: "15 means 15!"

student: "But, but, but ... "

teacher: "15!"

student: "How come ..."

teacher: "15! 15! 15!"

student: " ... ..." *scuttle away*

No wonder tuition industry so hot, and can only get hotter. With teachers like that, how can one survive without a tuition teacher?