Holistic education goes beyond grades

"I think it is important that we do take education seriously.

If parents were unconcerned about their children's education - it does not matter whether you do well or not, does not matter whether you do your homework or not - we would have another set of problems.

But we also would like people to have a holistic education.

It is not just grades; it is also your character, your leadership training, your exposure, your understanding of the world, understanding of the society we live in.

That does not come so easily from classroom, from books, or from tutorials or tuition.

I think we need to place more emphasis on that.

I think that collectively we put too much emphasis on tuition.

We think that if we hothouse our children, it will make all the difference. I am not so sure.

I can understand the concerns of the parents who want to give their children the best, but we also want to give the children the time and the space to grow up."

This article was first published on January 17, 2015.
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