“Once upon a time, there was a friendly giant who wanted to build the most beautiful garden for children around the world. Knowing about his own limitations, he decided to gather as many people who share the same interest as possible to build the garden together.” 

That was a retold version of a part of a beautiful story I have heard…I forgot the middle part but eventually, the beautiful garden was built and children played there happily ever after.

BUT. With so much said about continuously increasing workload (which said was to increase the quality) and teacher:child ratio, why are the anchor operators still constantly opening up new centres when the quality of the current ones are not met? Why can’t they spend some effort and time on the current child cares and make sure that the teachers are able meet each child’s needs and help them develop to their fullest potential while having a healthy work-life balance before moving on to opening new ones?

There’s a Chinese saying “万丈高楼平地起”. You will need a strong foundation before moving upwards and forward, isn’t it? Aren’t you going to fall even harder and flatter when you are continue building your ideal building with holes everywhere? How beautiful can the garden be when the flowers are not fully blooming, the grass are not all fresh and green and fruits grown are not ripe and juicy? And how happy can the children be in a big yet “empty” garden?

It’s kinda ^%$#@ when the answer we get is “no, because your class is within the teacher:child ratio” when we request for more staff to be in centre for various reasons, most of the time it’s because we have difficulty managing the child(ren) with difficult behaviours/special needs in class.

Are they really operating with children in mind or it’s just a money-driven business?
Even when it’s really being pressurized as an anchor operator, shouldn’t you make a firm stand if you are really operating with the mind of children and not just opening new centres non-stop with high student:teacher ratio?

#justsaying