By popular request I have been asked to write a review of my and MG’s experience at TPS. ( Never thought I would use “popular” in this little ole blog of mine, haha!)
So here it is:
TPS has changed over the years, in various aspects.
Firstly, TPS has been gaining in popularity. Friends with kids in TPS (Taska Precious Steps) have told me that their friends could not get admission into TPS in the last couple of years due to limited spaces. (Great, another Kings’ Kids in the making??)
Probably due to this, as well as the price hikes in Malaysia which seems to affect everything but my pay, TPS fees has also gone up, by about RM200. When I first embarked on my kindy search, it was a mid priced kindy, with its fees slightly lower than mid range kindys (such as Summer Academy (SA) etc). Now, the fees are higher than SA. (Just taking SA into comparison). It is also slightly higher than Tadika Diyana’s now. Definitely higher than kindys like Tadika Chim. Previously, kindy + daycare at TPS will set you back by below RM1K. Now (in 2016) it is at least RM1.3K (Basic fees, excluding the add ons).
Well, I accept that prices cannot remain at the same level forever, but the bigger question is whether the TPS quality is still maintained. All along, my view is that TPS has good teachers and that’s its biggest asset. Another reason why I picked TPS for MG is the teacher student ratio back then. However, I note that the classes have been getting bigger over the years.
MG started with about 16 kids in a class (4 year old class) with 2 teachers. At 5 years old, the number increased but not substantially.
By comparison, in 2016, my snooping has revealed that there are at least 20- 25 kids in a 4 year old class, with also 2 teachers in each!!
For MG’s K2 ( 6 year old) class in 2015, there were 28 kids in class!!
There may be arguments about whether this was done to deliberately assimilate the kids into a primary school setting but I don’t really buy this because (1) not all kids were going to local primary schools and (2) young kids need all the attention they can get. I feel that this was a bit of a strain on the teachers, given that the kids had much more work to do compared to earlier years, and also there were a lot more kids to train for concerts etc. The teachers, I maintain, were really good teachers.
Incidentally, MG’s performance in school deteriorated over the years. This could have been due to several factors including pure lack of diligence, but I do wonder if MG could have performed better had the class been smaller and she had received more attention.
I didn’t send MG to daycare, but I hear that there were 35 kids in daycare in 2015, with about 5 helpers. Not sure what it is in 2016 but you are considering daycare please make sure you are comfortable with the numbers!
Concerts and IT systems and support at TPS got slicker along the years..
Space wise – TPS expanded their operations (K1 and K2 classes) to a nearby office building. This was way overdue, as TPS was kind of bursting at the seams! The only slight downside is that parents have to do their drop offs and pick-ups within 15 minutes at the new centre, called Precious Steps Place, otherwise parking fees are chargeable (by the office building administration).
To summarise, I started with high regards for the teachers and staff of TPS and my respect for them is unchanged today. However, as with any commercial operation, it is always be a challenge for the business to maintain its quality and high standards whilst undergoing expansion.
I am happy to see that TPS has grown and happy to see them succeed, but from a parent’s point of view, my concern with TPS is the increasing number of kids in class and the impact on the kids’ development and learning. I can only speculate that this also may have a strain on the resources and teachers.
However, some kids may be able to thrive in such an environment and some angel kids may still be able to hold their attention on work whilst other monster kids may not be able to do so.
I love the folks at TPS (teachers and staff) and I sincerely hope TPS will be able to find the fine balance, achieve the success that they want, whilst maintaining a stable of happy teachers and students (and parents):)
So the ultimate question: would I send my other kids to TPS now?? Honestly, I don't know - I might just do a brief kindy search all over again to see what the kindy industry is offering these days and see if this numbers thing is just a pet peeve of mine or is really a big deal after all. Any thoughts? Please feel free to pm me!
