AMID the debate on pre-primary and primary education in the newspapers, I think the most important question parents need to ask themselves is: Whose duty is it to educate their children?

Schools have their responsibilities, but do parents sit back and criticise what the teachers are doing or not doing, or do we partner them to help educate our children?

Mr Mickey Chiang said in his Forum Online letter last Thursday ('Send articulate teachers to primary classes') that he was shocked to learn that his children could not order food in Mandarin.

It will not surprise me if my children are also unable to do the same because my family hardly speaks Mandarin at home. I take full blame for this. Teachers can only do so much. If there is no reinforcement at home, then it is a wasted effort.

It is important that we have quality teachers, but parents need to play a role and not push the responsibility to schools, or outsource the duty to private tutors.

Serene Goh (Mrs)

This article was first published in The Straits Times.