SCHOOL holidays are just around the corner, but it's not just fun and games for all kids. Some will be busy with extra tuition and enrichment classes.

And with the plethora of holiday classes available from Singapore's 467 tuition centres, parents are spoilt for choice on where to send their kids.

Morris Allen Study Centre, for example, offers Gifted Education Programme Screening Preparatory Classes.

This year, they have been oversubscribed by a breathtaking 100 per cent.

Other schools, such as Mind Edge, are reportedly enjoying such success that a second branch will be opened next month.

And there are those who see the benefit of the extra classes.

Some school teachers like Ms Dzaariny bte Koolos, 26, say that going to enrichment classes can enable the child to get more practice, cover extra questions, and even learn unconventional techniques that may come in useful in an exam.

But she observes that while some parents are quick to pack their children off TO these extra classes, there is sometimes a price, more often than not paid by the child.

Studies have shown that children need down-time, just like adults.

"There's a saying that no person on their deathbed wishes they'd spent more time at the office. The same applies to the classroom," according to an article in the Vancouver Courier.

Ms Dzaariny cautions though, that too much play during the long June holidays can breed idle minds, and the last two weeks before going back to school should be spent revising, especially for those taking a critical exam that year.

But Mr Alan Yip, CEO and master trainer with Mind Edge, adds: "The child should not be made to feel that sustaining straight As in school is the only way to obtain his parents' approval and love."

Still, there are many who do benefit from extra classes.

my paper talks to two students who are planning to spend their holidays in "class".

Read their stories here:

• Intensive algebra
• Stepping up tuition

For more my paper stories click here.