Enrichment Classes and Tuition Centres in Singapore

Overview of Enrichment Classes and Tuition in Singapore

Six thousand dollars – that’s how much Singaporean parents can spend in a month on tuition and enrichment classes for just one child.

And as a country, we spend a whopping $1.1 billion annually on these extra classes – double the amount parents spent just a decade ago. That also means 97% of students in Singapore have attended some form of tuition or enrichment classes.

These statistics overwhelmingly point to the exponentially growing popularity of tuition and enrichment classes in Singapore, and how parents feel they are essential to their children’s positive development.

Why do they feel this way? What kind of enrichment classes do they send their children to? What are their concerns about these classes? If you’re looking for answers, Skoolopedia has them here for you.

Why Enrichment?

80% of Singaporeans believe that tuition is beneficial to their children’s education, while about half feel that their children need tuition in order to keep up with their peers in school. These mindsets have led to 1 in 2 Singaporean parents forking out more than $500 a month on tuition or enrichment classes.

While many believe that enrichment and tuition classes are traditionally for the academically weak, surveys have shown that two thirds of the students in Singapore’s Gifted Education Programme (GEP) take such classes too.

What Can Enrichment Classes And Tuition Offer?

We’ve done the research – and here’s why parents are rushing to send their children to enrichment and tuition centres

• To Learn Ahead
  • Parents now want their children to go beyond their current syllabus level to stretch their learning abilities – for example, a Primary 1 student starting on Primary 3 curriculum
• To Keep Up
  • This is the traditional reasoning behind extra classes – so students struggling with their schoolwork and syllabus can keep up better in school
• To Learn Alternative Studying Concepts And Strategies
  • A trend that is getting increasingly popular as parents turn to creative learning strategies like whole brain learning and other studying techniques to expand their child’s learning abilities.

What Parents Are Asking

When it comes to their children, Singaporean parents only want the best – and the most suitable classes for their budding little geniuses. This can be a daunting or intimidating task – to pick and choose from hundreds of centres available. Here are some questions most commonly asked when parents are making their choice.

1. Should parents be choosing an enrichment type or tuition type programme for their child?
2. How should parents evaluate a particular tuition or enrichment centre?
3. Session timings – can they be worked into the parents’ busy daily schedules?
4. What are the ideas, beliefs and the motivation behind the schools and its staff?
5. What kind of qualifications do these educators have?
6. How much parental involvement is needed for these classes?
7. What is the classroom environment like?
8. How well is the campus or centre located?
9. What is the student to teacher ratio?
10. Does the school have a great track record or the testimonials to back their claims?
11. What are the fees and do they include all materials?

What Kind of Enrichment Programmes?

Long gone are your garden varieties of tuition classes which just cover basic subjects taught in school. Today, parents are sending their children to enrichment and tuition classes which run the gamut from school subjects to personal development outside the academic syllabus. These include abacus classes, art and craft classes, brain training, all kinds of dance classes, classes in financial literacy and natural sciences, speech and and drama, and even robotics and programming classes.

Which leads to the next question – what classes should you send your children to? While there is much research to be done before parents make up their minds where they should invest their children’s time – and their money – here are Singapore’s top 5 brands for enrichment and tuition classes, broken down into categories for your reading convenience.

What Are Singapore’s Top Brand Names For Enrichment And Tuition?

For tuition in basic subjects, here are the schools and brands which are widely regarded as the top in Singapore, based on an extensive research conducted by Skoolopedia.

• Science: Ace Academy, Learning Horizon, WhizzKidz, WorkLab
• English: I Can Read Centre, British Council, Lorna Whiston, My English School and ICentral.
• Mathematics: Just Education, Eye Level, Mind Stretcher, Kent Ridge Education
• Chinese: Tien Hsia Language School, YuQuan Language School, Eye Level, Berry World of Learning, Kumon learning centres

For Enrichment classes, these are the best known names:

• Abacus: ApplePlus School, Crestar Learning Centre, CMA Mental Arithmetic Centre, Kent Ridge Education Centre, Edufarm Learning Centre
• Brain Training: Heguru, Stamford Education, My Little Genius, Brainfit Studio, Shichida
• Music: Seimpi Music School, Bloom School of Music, Staccato Music School, Aureus Academy, MYCS Singapore, Yamaha Music School,Cristofori Music School, Edvox.
• Art and Craft: Abrakadoodle, Art Zone, LPN Art school, Crestar Learning Centre, Global Art
• Dancing: The Ballet School, Centre Stage, Crestar Learning Centre, Dance Factory, Dance Pointe
• Martial Arts: Capoeira Argola de Ouro, AikiForest, Asia Krav Maga, Evolve MMA, JH Kim Taekwondo Institute Singapore
• Vocal: Intune Music, The Vocal Studio Singapore, Kids Performing, Aureus Academy, Yamaha Music School
• Speech and Drama: Julia Gabriel, Lorna Whiston, Act3Theatrics, The Ballet School, Weecare (Chinese)

Now we’re sure you’re ready to take on the challenges in your child’s educational journey and to make informed, educated decisions about enrichment or tuition classes!

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