13 September 2019
The latest Household Expenditure Survey conducted by the Department of Statistics from October 2017 to September 2018 found that Singapore households spent S$1.4 billion on tuition.
A media report has also noted that the number of tuition and enrichment centres has seen a corresponding increase over the years, growing from about 700 in 2012 to more than 950 today.
That being said, the average household spending on tuition amounted only to S$88.40 per month in 2017/2018, based on a survey of 1.35 million households. Tuition contributed to less than 2 per cent of monthly household expenditure.
To lessen the burden of examination stress and help students discover the joys of learning, the Ministry of Education has pledged to implement many reforms, including the removal of mid-year examinations (for selected academic levels), and the abolition of streaming in secondary school.
Because many of the changes have yet to kick in, it would be unrealistic to expect any effects so soon. We are likely to see any effects of these reforms only in decades to come, after the full suite of changes have taken place and parents have a fuller understanding of what they entail.