A recent poll by the Grassroots Influence Foundation has highlighted a worrying trend in which the nation’s schools are unable to provide the kind of education parents want for their children, said Yang Shih-hsien (楊士賢), the principal of Jiankang Elementary School in Taipei.
The foundation polled parents of children in kindergarten, elementary and junior-high schools between March 18 and April 13, to find out if their children went to cram schools and for what.
More than 70 percent of respondents said their children went to cram schools, with 67 percent sending elementary-school youngsters and 25 percent kindergarteners, with most seeking extra English tuition.
That so many parents want their children to receive extra English tuition shows that they are worried schools are not doing enough to satisfy the perceived demands of society, Yang said.
Elementary and junior-high schools on average only teach two to three sessions of English courses per week, Yang said.
“What are our schools doing?” Yang asked.
Schools could be “creative” in attempting to circumvent regulations, such as having physical education teachers use English during their classes, since all prospective teachers are supposed to pass additional English proficiency tests, Yang said.
However, National Cheng Chi University assistant professor Hsu Lien-en (徐聯恩) said experts’ opinions should weigh more than the opinions of parents on the issue.
There are different motives for “cramming” at different levels of education, Hsu said, adding that junior-high schoolers tend to study for the high-school entrance examinations, elementary students might be studing a secondary topic and kindergarteners are usually sent to cram schools to enrich their life experiences, Hsu said.
The poll had 1,174 valid responses, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, and a confidence rating of 95 percent.
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