By Santokh Singh

HERE is an appeal on behalf of most of the parents I know to our teachers and principals.

Please, let's get back to the basics of education - where lessons were conducted during school hours, Co-curricular Activities (CCAs) were after school and Saturdays were declared holidays.

Our appeal starts with the latest trend that has seeped into most of our schools - the structured remedial/supplementary/enrichment programme.

Recently a friend told me that his daughter in Primary 3 is being introduced to a new subject - science. But even before the girl had been told of the syllabus she is going to study for the year, she was told of the remedial classes for the subject that she would be required to attend at least once a week after school.

His one question: How does the school know that the child needs remedial lessons if she has yet to study the subject?

Good question my friend. Sorry, I cannot answer it but would pray that the school knows what it is doing.

Then there were all those remedial/supplementary classes conducted last year for students graduating from either Primary 6 or Secondary 4 only this year. Yes, you read it right. These were classes held in the November-December holidays for students taking the national examinations this year.

I wonder if there is no fear of burn-out here.

Before some of these kids could sing their first national anthem of the year, they were already told of the full after-school time table for the year. Higher band The schools hide it under many guises, but they all mean the same thing - moving the school to a higher band.

Yes, some children come home with a 'remedial programme', others call it 'supplementary classes' and the smart ones say it is an 'enrichment programme'. Most of them would be starting next week, if they have not already started.

Sure, we appreciate the fact that the teachers (and hopefully the principals) are also spending this extra time for the sake of our kids.

And we are thankful for all the additional effort put in. But we are also okay if you try and teach all that need to be taught during curriculum time, and give yourselves a well-deserved rest.

And perhaps, should the need arise, these extra lessons can be conducted nearer the examinations. Talking about exams, there is now a new kind in town -mock exams.

It is not to mock the students, I am assured, but an alternative to the preliminary exams.

And I know of schools that conduct up to three preliminary examinations for the graduating classes before the O levels - all so that the school does not drop into a lower academic band. And somehow, most of my friends and I are beginning to feel that educators have started short-changing themselves once again.

What was once a key Ministry of Education initiative is slowly but surely being forgotten - declaring a five-day working week for our schools.

Yes, Saturday is less and less becoming a family day here again for those with school-going kids. If it is not extra lessons, it is some CCA or other. Or it's some project work that the students have to meet for.

Yes, teachers, Saturday was a fun family day the past few years - a day you should also be with your families.

This article was first published in The New Paper on January 18, 2009.