PIEC summer course students perform for friends and family in 2007.

ATTENDING summer school is a common way for children to spend part of their holidays but with so many different courses on offer, it’s often hard to decide which is the right one for your child.

Of course, some parents think it’s unfair to make their children study over the summer, arguing that it’s a time for relaxation and recharging the batteries for the next school year.

But the popularity of the courses (among parents, at least) shows that summer training courses are increasingly considered essential for those who want to succeed at school and possibly pursue further academic study after matriculation.

They can also be a lot of fun. While the most common summer courses focus on language tuition (English is the most common), there are many courses available that offer training in less academic subjects. These include handicrafts, dancing, music, martial arts and sports such as football, basketball, table tennis, badminton and swimming, says U Kyaw Thu Yein, a teacher from Stamford-City Business Institute in Yangon. For its three-month summer courses, SCBI charges K200,000 for new enrolments and K170,000 for returning students.

Daw Hla Yin Win, managing director of Pride International Education Centre (PIEC), says the institute offers artistic training courses over the summer, including art, music and dance. The institute also offers English and computer courses, which, like most summer programs, are focused on improving academic performance. PIEC’s three-month summer programs, which cost K150,000, start in the second or third week of March, after the completion of regular exams.

“The purposes of our English language courses are to let the students have more opportunities to use their knowledge of English and also encourage them to speak the language without being worried of making mistakes or errors,” says Daw Hla Yin Win.

The practical teaching methods are extremely beneficial for students, she says, because it helps them confirm their knowledge and then speak with other students and teachers to iron out any usage errors.

U Nelson, managing director of Nelson English Language Centre (NELC), agrees the summer courses provide an opportunity for students to improve their English that might not be possible during the standard school year.

“Their competence in English stays with them for a long time and English-speaking skills usually help them to get a better job after graduation, U Nelson said, adding that pronunciation and conversational skills benefit the most from summer courses.

He says his institution’s philosophy is to keep tuition fees low, to encourage more and more people to take up summer courses, which are normally two hours of tuition a day.

Daw Myint Myint San, the mother of a student who usually takes summer English courses at NELC, says she has seen significant improvement in her son’s English language skills and attributes this to his summer training.

“My son now prefers to watch films with English subtitles rather than Myanmar because he would like to try to listen and read in English while viewing them,” she says.

She says parents should check the quality of the school before enrolling their children as, in her experience, the most expensive training schools are not always the best.