When the effort or resourcefulness of tens of thousands of math tutors in Singapore covers up most
local school
teachers’ poor teaching pedagogies or methodologies and their low enthusiasm or creativity, thus exonerating the latter in making the subject appear dull and
boring and unconnected to real life.
If there was a months-
long lockdown in Singapore due to the pandemic, except for the thousands of families who can’t afford private tuition for their
children, the math grades of the majority of middle-class students wouldn’t significantly suffer, because of a
mask for math culture that has permeated the entire educational system for decades.