Gerry,
Unfortunately, it seems like that is happening alot more in the "branded" primary school. Any chance that ur friend's child is a "branded" primary school?
Well, MOE now wants the schools to follow a broad based education, and alot of the children are swamped with CCAs, ECAs, they have to attend supplementary classes held by external organizations. So, it may not be the intention to teach the children less, but given the limited amt of time they have in school, something has to go. There's also the Founder's Day, Mid Autumn Festival, Teacher's Day celebration, all these activities take up time. PLUS the children has to attend 101 rehearsals to prepare for all these events. The children of this generation are leading very "packed" lives if you ask me.
It's also true that 99% of them go for tuition classes and teachers expect them to already know what is taught in class. Also, not only do the children go for tuition, alot of my students' moms are SAHMs who monitor their homework and progress, AND give them extra homework on top of school + tuition!
From what i've heard from my teacher friends (from JCs, secondary schools and primary schools across the board), it is especially prevalent in the "better"/"branded" schools. But what to do, most parents go to all kinds of ways to get their children into the "branded" schools now
