Why Legal Enrichment?
This is a good question to ask - and it is a question that you should really get a proper response to.
Let me start with why enrichment classes are important in general, before I go into why legal enrichment classes (while novel) should be something that you seriously consider for your child's development.
Why Enrichment?
Why do you send your child for ballet lessons? Why do you send them for piano lessons? Why so you send them for art lessons, sports lessons, outdoor activities, etc.?
Simple answer: You recognize that the world is changing. In an advanced economy such as Singapore, grades are no longer a differentiating factor for your child. To stand out from the crowd, children of today will need to develop extensive skill-sets to prepare for the world of tomorrow. Enrichment classes that can stretch your child's developmental potential beyond the traditional classroom will help to give your child a head-start in assimilating and excelling when they eventually make it to the workforce.
This is my own personal thought. Content-based learning worked well for Singapore students in the past. Before the Internet truly took off, content was hard to find (e.g. ever tried looking for information in physical encyclopedias such as Encarta?). This made it useful for students who could get access to the best teachers and the best schools, who naturally also had the best content to teach these students.
The Internet has changed this. With the explosion of the Internet, finding content is no longer a challenge. Indeed, with enough perseverance and discipline, you can access almost any content on the Internet and read it. However, while you can access it, you may not have the necessary skills to absorb that content.
Skills-based learning is the future. Content-based learning will be (and, in fact, has already proven to be) limited. Think about how much of the content you have learnt through your formal education has been useful or applied in your first job - I would guess that it is at most 10%. What you did find useful are the skills that you learnt - (i) making friends; (ii) research; (iii) communication and presentation skills, etc.
Skills-based learning is the future. This you cannot hope to change.
Whether your child gets a chance to develop his/her skills - this is something you can control.
Why Legal?
When you have come around to the thinking that enrichment classes which focuses on skill-based learning is the future, you must also think carefully why legal enrichment?
I will be very honest with you - I cannot guarantee that by taking up my courses, your child will get a place in law school. No one can promise you this. I can impart skills and tips to give your child a head-start, but carving out a career in the law is a mix of many different factors. If getting your child into law school is your only concern, then Aletheia Academy may not be able to meet your needs.
However, if you think broader, all enrichment classes cannot guarantee success in that field. Not all who attend ballet classes become world-class ballerinas. Not all who attend art classes become Picasso's. Not all who attend soccer academies becomes Messi's or Fandi Ahmad's (depending how ambitious you are for your child).
That is not to say that anything your child has learnt through the course is useless. Through ballet, your child learns physical coordination and exercises creativity. Through art, your child learns how to express what he/she sees or imagines. Through soccer training, they learn the value of discipline and teamwork.
Through a legal enrichment class, your child can learn how to read better, think better, write better and speak better. These are core skill-sets which can help them in almost any content-based topic in school. Beyond school, this also helps them to prepare for the workforce - whether it is a presentation to their boss, strategizing for their business, or just absorbing information from work-related courses.
Basic legal content is also very relevant and important in modern Singapore society. If you are working or run a business, I can say with utmost certainty that you would encounter legal issues. When your child grows up, the working world would be even more sophisticated and the legal landscape will be even more challenging to navigate.
In my view, it is absolutely necessary that a child of today needs to pick up some basic legal knowledge and skills to prepare for the workplace of tomorrow.
The Singapore government talks about the future being in the digital economy. With this in mind, it pushes for basic programming to be taught in schools - almost like a third language.
Not all of us will breakdown software programs to look at the source code and study the programming language - yet it is still expected of us to know some basic coding.
What more "legalese"? Have you signed an insurance contract? Opened a bank account? Transacted over Amazon? Written a will? We come into contact with basic "legalese" very often, yet we do not bother to pick up some basic knowledge and skills to familiarize ourselves with it.
Aletheia Academy seeks to change this - starting with the next generation.
Aletheia Academy - Tomorrow's Lawyers, Today.
*Special thanks to my father, Prof Tan Soon Hie, for discussing this with me and sharpening my thoughts on a few of the key issues highlighted in this post.