I REFER to Mr Mickey Chiang's suggestion in his letter last Thursday, 'Send articulate teachers to primary classes'.

I agree that if teachers in schools are using Singlish and ungrammatical English to teach, especially in English classes, it is high time they stopped.

However, I do not agree that the responsibility of teaching proper English rests entirely on teachers. Parents should do their part at home too.

Home is where children spend most of their time. I do not see how they can apply what they have learnt in school if the proper use of languages is not promoted at home.

I agree that schools' pedagogical approaches should be reviewed constantly and tailored whenever necessary to cater to students' needs. However, this should go hand in hand with complementary actions by parents. It would be good if parents take some time to reflect on the use of languages at home, and rectify their approach accordingly.

Perhaps then, they will place less fault on the education system and work harder to provide a proper learning environment at home for their children.

Benjamin Lim

This article was first published in The Straits Times.