Clemen Chiang, Freely Business School 4

This post is about teaching standards at commercial schools and training organisations including Clemen Chiang's.

If a school or trainer does not keep its/his promises, then you can sue them for breach of contract. However, what kind of level of teaching can we expect from the school or trainer - this is not easy to determine. There will be of course some clear cases. For example, if a school promises to prepare you to take the 'A-level" General Mathematics examination but only teaches you basic arithmetic, that would be a clear case of breach of contract. On the other hand, if it teaches you calculus in a confusing way, is it their fault or your fault for not understanding?

Proving that teaching or training is below the standard that can be reasonably expected is time-consuming and messy. It is interesting to note that based on newspaper reports, the claims against Clemen Chiang are based more on his lack of educational credentials then on the standard of his teaching. Some internet posts claim that his teaching is not worth much but this is hard to verify. Teaching standards even amoung Singapore government schools vary greatly, so it would be difficult to say if the teaching of Clemen Chiang was up to the expected standard.

In Singapore, on the other hand, the usual test of a good teacher is what "paper" (i.e. qualifications) he has.