The reported RM4 billion tuition industry clearly reflects the state of our teaching and education for our young. Chances are, we will continue in this direction, fueling a system that will eventually lead to a total collapse of the education system if not treated with urgency.

In the past, we have reviewed and debated the need for tuition and why parents are left with little choice but to send their children for private coaching. Some parents and certain leaders have even expressly stated that tuition is a must to "keep up with the changing times".

Yet we are unable to get to the bottom of the issue and tackle it with determination.

The point is, parents are coughing up some RM4 billion a year to send their children for tuition classes. What is glaring, given an estimated 3% margin for error, is the fact that many school teachers are raking part of this amount in and one wonders whether any income tax is being paid on the RM4 billion.

If children cannot learn to master English, Mathematics and Science while in school for over six hours daily, then what are they learning in school? If these one-hour tuition sessions attended three times a week can produce excellent grades, then there must be reason to believe that there is gross neglect or a totally inefficient teaching system at work in schools.

Or is it part of a grander scheme to enable school teachers to make up for their low salaries in schools?

If we say that the real reason why tuition is growing and thriving at a whopping RM4 billion a year is because parents are too busy at work and want to keep their children out of trouble, then we should ask ourselves is tuition the answer? Do we not see the holding of study periods in school with supervision from regular teachers as a better and more cost effective way to solve the problem?

If the reason for a booming private tuition is because of the ineffective student-teacher ratio, then what is the education ministry's commitment to resolve this seemingly perennial problem? As it appears, almost every other civil service is suffering from insufficient manpower and resources or infrastructure. The police is just one such example.

It is about time educationists, policy-makers and think-tanks put their heads together in the best interests of the nation. Knee jerk solutions and lack of a will to see the bigger picture will only set us all back eventually. Otherwise, we might as well privatize all schooling.