Secondary 2 History tuition around Jalan Tenteram should improve the child’s ability to compare sources about housing changes, not merely retell two accounts separately. The history of surviving SIT terrace houses and later HDB rental blocks is an excellent practice case: statements about 1959 and 1962 can both be true when they concern different physical buildings. Weekday or weekend tuition should be evaluated by a new independent comparison after feedback.
The National Heritage Board identifies St Michael’s SIT housing and the surviving Jalan Tenteram–Jalan Ma’mor terraces, while Docomomo documents two-room HDB rental Blocks 20–22 completed in 1962. Distinguishing the buildings, tenure and dates prepares students to assess the precise relationship between sources rather than force a contradiction.
Parents near St Michael’s Estate, Jalan Tenteram, Jalan Bahagia and Whampoa Road should bring one marked two-source question and a realistic timetable including CCA, travel, dinner, other schoolwork and sleep. A premium three-learner group is useful only when each pupil writes independently and receives personal feedback. This article is not an advertisement for a confirmed local History classroom.
Weekday, weekend or an initial assessment?
| Choice | Potential benefit | What families must check | Independent result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekday | Repair a fresh marked comparison quickly | CCA, school dismissal, transport, meals, fatigue | Different paired source answered alone later |
| Weekend | Calm discussion of different housing records and images | Recovery time and a week-long practice gap | Short unfamiliar midweek comparison |
| Diagnose first | Find whether the weakness is comparison, chronology or evidence | Joining without an identified learning need | Two independent answers compared |
Chapter index
- 1. Two correct summaries are not yet a History comparison
- 2. Jalan Tenteram and Jalan Ma’mor: related names do not establish identical experiences
- 3. Early Balestier SIT statistics cannot be assigned to Jalan Tenteram alone
- 4. The 1959 St Michael’s Estate was a particular SIT development
- 5. The surviving terraces are important precisely because much else changed
- 6. A surviving house is not automatically a legally conserved monument
- 7. The creation of HDB in 1960 does not change the date of an SIT terrace
- 8. 1961 HDB resettlement and 1962 rental flats form separate stages
- 9. Blocks 20, 21 and 22: the $40 rental figure has a particular scope
- 10. The SIT terraces were sold to tenants, not necessarily offered on the same rental terms
- 11. An aerial view in 1964 gives spatial evidence, not a full demographic survey
- 12. The 1966 redevelopment decision should not be read as same-day demolition
- 13. Later housing completed in 1973 is not identical to the 1959 estate
- 14. Tenteram Peak is another name and another housing phase
- 15. Modern heritage writing is not a first-person statement from a 1959 resident
- 16. A source that reports housing policy does not tell us everyone’s feelings
- 17. Original worked comparison: fictional terrace resident and rental notice
- 18. Original corroboration exercise: compare dates without manufacturing agreement
- 19. One repeated heritage fact is not necessarily two independent eyewitnesses
- 20. Cause and consequence require a mechanism, not a neat sequence
- 21. Three-pupil discussion still requires three independently supported comparisons
- 22. Weekday lessons can repair fresh comparison errors but may add fatigue
- 23. A weekend tutorial must be followed by an unfamiliar source
- 24. Four weeks from two disconnected summaries to a defensible comparison
1. Two correct summaries are not yet a History comparison
A Secondary 2 learner may summarise Source A accurately and then describe Source B in another paragraph, never establishing whether the accounts agree or differ. If the question asks how far sources are similar, the student has not completed the central task. Ask for the comparison sentence before any quotation. It should concern a historical issue shared by both sources, not the observation that one is a photograph and the other text.
Start with a marked school script. Underline the command word, circle the proposed relationship and identify a relevant detail from each source. If only one source supplies evidence, the comparison is incomplete. If the details refer to different places or decades, consider whether the supposed contradiction is genuine or whether the authors address different aspects of the history.
After guided correction, use a new two-source exercise from the school curriculum. The pupil must independently identify agreement, difference or qualification without the tutor’s favourite wording. Parents can compare the first script with this new answer to see whether the method transferred. The quality of the relationship matters more than the number of words written.
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2. Jalan Tenteram and Jalan Ma’mor: related names do not establish identical experiences
The NHB Balestier trail history explains that streets in St Michael’s Estate received Malay names such as Jalan Tenteram, referring to peace, and Jalan Ma’mor, referring to prosperity. The names offer evidence of naming choices. They do not establish that every resident actually experienced peace or prosperity in the same manner.
A student comparing a street-name history with a resident’s later recollection may see different emphases. One describes a name, while the other describes a personal experience. An unhappy recollection does not disprove that the road was given a positive name; it addresses a different claim. The pupil should explain why the two can coexist.
Use a new school exercise contrasting a hopeful public slogan with an eyewitness account of practical difficulties. Ask what each contributes and whether either measures the whole population. The goal is a precise comparison, not a generic statement that one source must be lying.
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3. Early Balestier SIT statistics cannot be assigned to Jalan Tenteram alone
The NHB heritage booklet says the wider SIT Balestier estates had 1,302 Artisans’ Quarters, 20 low-rise flats and 63 shops by 1948. This describes a broader set including Rayman, Whampoe and Lorong Limau. It does not state that all these units were built along Jalan Tenteram, and it predates the completion of St Michael’s Estate.
A weak comparison might quote the 1948 total and call it the number of houses on Jalan Tenteram in 1959. That changes the place and period being measured. Students must identify geographic scope, date and unit before using figures as evidence. A large accurate number can make an answer less accurate if it is attached to the wrong location.
Ask learners to label one card ‘Balestier SIT estates, 1948’ and another ‘St Michael’s Estate, 1959’. Different records can contribute to a wider housing chronology while remaining distinct. Repeat the task with a citywide school statistic and a neighbourhood example from an unfamiliar History topic.
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4. The 1959 St Michael’s Estate was a particular SIT development
NHB describes St Michael’s Estate as completed in 1959 with two-storey terrace houses, low-rise flats, shops and a market. An HDB source describing subsequent high-rise work belongs to a later institutional phase. The existence of both records does not mean one contradicts the other about who originally planned the estate.
The pupil should compare what each agency built and when. An initial estate completed under SIT could later contain HDB flats after the HDB began operations. Change in the developer and structure is different from complete disappearance of the neighbourhood name. A source about a current housing address may not establish the initial builder.
Give learners an unrelated example of a school campus first built under one authority and later extended by another. Ask for one documented continuity and one change, without inventing student opinions. The analysis should remain anchored to the exact institution named by each source.
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5. The surviving terraces are important precisely because much else changed
The Balestier trail identifies terraces along Jalan Tenteram and Jalan Ma’mor as remaining SIT residential structures and notes that they were sold to tenants. This is a specific example of continuity within broader redevelopment. It does not establish that the terrace interiors are entirely original or formally gazetted as conserved buildings.
Compare a picture of one low-rise house with a later HDB high-rise. The physical forms differ; however, both can belong to a wider area with a long housing history. A claim about why individual owners maintained certain roof or window features would need more than a photograph. The official historical account supplies identity and context, not every personal motive.
An effective paragraph states that parts of SIT’s physical legacy survived amid later housing changes, supported by NHB. It avoids saying either that all SIT buildings vanished or that the whole former estate remains untouched. Apply the same distinction to an unfamiliar preserved bridge or institutional building.
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6. A surviving house is not automatically a legally conserved monument
Heritage writing sometimes praises surviving old buildings, but survival is not the same as a formal conservation gazette. The NHB trail documents the remaining SIT terrace houses without necessarily confirming a particular legal protection status for each unit. A student should not silently change ‘survives today’ into ‘gazetted national monument’.
To answer a legal designation question, an appropriate government conservation record would be required. To establish architectural survival, a dated institutional heritage account and site-specific photograph may suffice. To discuss ownership, another type of record may be more helpful. Distinguishing the kinds of claim is itself a transferable source skill.
Ask the learner to compare a heritage trail praising an old shop with an actual listed-monument register. They may both be reliable within their scope while addressing different questions. Do not assume the more formal-looking source answers every historical inquiry.
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7. The creation of HDB in 1960 does not change the date of an SIT terrace
HDB’s official history identifies 1960 as the beginning of the Housing & Development Board, which succeeded SIT. NHB’s terrace-house narrative predates this change. A later HDB record may discuss the housing area, but it does not mean the new board constructed every earlier dwelling.
Ask students to distinguish institutional succession from building succession. A property might remain physically present while a different authority administers housing policy. The phrase ‘HDB estate’ used in modern conversation may be a convenient location description rather than an accurate attribution of an old structure’s original builder.
To practise chronology, present a fictional school built in 1950 and administered by a new ministry after 1960. Ask whether the later ministry must have constructed the 1950 building. The student should write an explanation based on dates and evidence.
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8. 1961 HDB resettlement and 1962 rental flats form separate stages
According to NHB’s Balestier account, early HDB work in St Michael’s Estate included 816 one-room flats completed in 1961. Docomomo’s research documents Blocks 20, 21 and 22 Jalan Tenteram as two-room rental flats completed in 1962. They were not one identical building project.
A child who sees ‘one-room flats’ and ‘two-room flats’ might assume one institution disagreed with the other about the same homes. Check block numbers, unit types and years. Both can be accurate because they refer to distinct phases or groups of buildings. A comparative answer must identify the relevant referent before declaring conflict.
Use a school source pair about two waves of a housing programme or different classes of an institution. Ask for the shared policy aim and a precise difference in what each source records. Keep the explanation short and factual.
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9. Blocks 20, 21 and 22: the $40 rental figure has a particular scope
Docomomo reports that the two-room rental flats in Blocks 20–22 Jalan Tenteram were initially rented for $40 a month in 1962. This is a historic figure for a specified type of unit and period. It is not the current rental rate, the initial price of surviving SIT terrace houses, or every family’s household income.
Ask whether a source showing $40 rent is useful for a claim about initial rental arrangements. Yes. Is it sufficient to prove that all tenants found the payment affordable? No. That would require income, expenses or properly attributed testimony. Accurate use of a number includes its denomination, date and population.
Compare a historic rent notice with a single resident’s diary in a fictional classroom task. An amount and a lived experience may illuminate different dimensions. The child should not assume a personal preference contradicts a properly dated administrative figure unless the texts actually dispute the same claim.
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10. The SIT terraces were sold to tenants, not necessarily offered on the same rental terms
NHB notes that the surviving SIT terrace houses along Jalan Tenteram and Jalan Ma’mor were sold to tenants. Docomomo describes a separate HDB rental arrangement for Blocks 20–22. These are different tenure histories within a related estate, and their differences matter when comparing housing policy.
A pupil should not use the initial $40 figure for two-room HDB flats to calculate the purchase price of a terrace. A purchase and a rental agreement require different records and measures. Nor does selling houses to tenants prove each household had identical financial circumstances.
Teach a source card for each case: original building agency, dwelling type, reported tenure, date and source. A clear comparison may say that multiple housing arrangements existed in the wider area, but it should not invent exactly what each family paid.
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11. An aerial view in 1964 gives spatial evidence, not a full demographic survey
The NHB booklet reproduces a 1964 aerial image of St Michael’s Estate. It can help historians understand spatial arrangement, roads and building forms within its frame. It cannot directly measure household income, personal satisfaction or every movement made by the people below.
Ask students to compare that view with a later properly dated map, noting changes in visible building density or road alignment where supported. Different camera angles, scale and cropping can affect apparent differences. A confident conclusion needs comparable evidence rather than a quick visual judgement.
In an unfamiliar school exercise, use a harbour photo and a later map. State what each source directly offers, identify one relevant similarity or change and explain why neither is a complete record of all workers’ experiences.
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12. The 1966 redevelopment decision should not be read as same-day demolition
NHB records an HDB decision in 1966 to redevelop older SIT estates around Balestier. Much of the old housing was demolished in the late 1960s, while terrace houses in Jalan Tenteram and Jalan Ma’mor survived. A student who writes that every old building was removed in 1966 has changed a staged programme into an instantaneous event.
An institutional decision is strong evidence of a chosen direction. Photographs or construction records can help establish implementation at specific sites. The source may also distinguish where clearance occurred and what stayed. A precise comparison identifies the decision, later action and any exceptions without inventing exact demolition days.
Ask students to choose a government programme from a current school unit with different proposal and completion dates. They should explain the phases rather than create a false contradiction between early and late sources.
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13. Later housing completed in 1973 is not identical to the 1959 estate
NHB’s chronology describes the subsequent HDB redevelopment of the wider Whampoa area as completed by 1973 with nearly 5,000 housing units. These later works are part of a larger urban transformation, not the date of every early SIT terrace or the 1962 two-room blocks.
A source on modern high-density housing can complement a source on earlier low-rise dwellings by showing change in scale and design. It cannot establish that every original resident moved into the later units or that all former homes were replaced. The surviving terraces make the exception especially important.
Give a two-source writing prompt: one describes a 1959 estate and another a later HDB redevelopment. Ask the pupil to compare the building forms and their historical periods before discussing possible social effects. Do not invent every family’s response.
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14. Tenteram Peak is another name and another housing phase
NHB’s refreshed heritage-trail release lists Tenteram Peak among more recent HDB developments in the wider Balestier locality. A name reused for a later development does not mean it is physically the same as a two-storey SIT terrace or a 1962 rental block.
The learner should verify address and construction period from the specific property’s record. A current photo of Tenteram Peak is evidence of the later built environment, not direct visual evidence for 1959. An estate name can survive or reappear even when the actual housing form changes greatly.
Repeat with an unfamiliar school or station whose original name appears on a later campus or railway project. Ask for institutional continuity and physical difference without making claims about residents not recorded by the sources.
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15. Modern heritage writing is not a first-person statement from a 1959 resident
The NHB trail booklet is a researched modern account that draws together older photographs, records and recollections. It can be useful for chronology. Its modern author should not be treated as someone who personally watched every 1950s construction decision unfold.
An authentic oral-history excerpt could illuminate a speaker’s particular experience of moving, while a modern institutional history might give broader dates. These different sources may agree on a factual milestone and still emphasise different details. A different emphasis is not automatically a contradiction.
Ask for a comparison between original creator, time of event and publication date. Then use a new textbook source from the school syllabus to test whether the pupil can evaluate provenance without copying a formula about bias.
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16. A source that reports housing policy does not tell us everyone’s feelings
A policy document can state what facilities were planned, how many homes were built and which buildings were supplied. It cannot automatically establish that every resident liked the new arrangement. A family’s genuine recollection could show one experience, but that single voice cannot quantify the entire estate.
Students should avoid declaring official sources universally reliable and personal memories universally unreliable. Each answers some questions well and others less completely. A government notice may be excellent evidence of intended policy; a diary can be meaningful evidence of one person’s reaction.
The tutor can make two columns: documented decision and human experience. A comparative paragraph should state what each source contributes, then name one claim requiring further corroboration. This is the beginning of reliable source evaluation.
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17. Original worked comparison: fictional terrace resident and rental notice
All mini-sources in this exercise are fictional and not quotations from SIT, HDB or any actual Jalan Tenteram family. Imagined Source A is a person’s account: ‘Our terrace has a small yard where the family gathers.’ Imagined Source B is a housing notice: ‘Two-room flats are available to tenants for monthly rent.’ The task asks whether the sources disagree about housing.
Source A describes one household’s imagined living space. Source B advertises a different housing arrangement. They do not necessarily conflict because they may concern different homes and periods. Neither establishes the social experiences of everybody in the estate or the purchase value of a terrace.
Model comparison: ‘The sources describe different types of homes rather than contradicting one another. A concerns a terrace and its yard, while B concerns rental flats. They do not prove that all residents lived in the same kind of home or preferred one arrangement.’
A weak answer treats the rental notice as proof that the terrace was rented at the same amount, or the diary as evidence that everyone enjoyed gardens. Correct by matching each clue to its source. Then change to an unfamiliar school-source pair about two community buildings.
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18. Original corroboration exercise: compare dates without manufacturing agreement
The following statements are written as a classroom exercise, not as fabricated official quotes. Source A is a brief institutional summary describing an SIT estate completed in 1959. Source B is a separate historical study describing HDB rental blocks completed in 1962. The question is whether B disproves A’s date.
A suitable answer identifies the different objects. The statements concern separate phases; therefore, both dates can be accurate. The sources together support a longer housing chronology but B does not independently verify A’s original SIT construction date.
A genuine cross-reference needs a second record that addresses the same tested claim. Ask which source would help verify the 1959 estate date: an original plan, completion report or independently dated record might be more direct. Then apply this method to an unfamiliar school case containing proposal and construction dates.
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19. One repeated heritage fact is not necessarily two independent eyewitnesses
Two modern pages may quote the same NHB booklet or earlier government announcement. Their agreement can be useful background, but it does not automatically create independent eyewitness testimony. Ask where each writer obtained the fact and whether the documents refer to the same original evidence.
For example, an HDB institutional account and a separate architectural study might illuminate different aspects of early housing. If both cite one old annual report for a date, the underlying factual basis may still be a single record. The child’s conclusion should be as strong as the evidence allows.
Practise tracing an unfamiliar date from a school textbook to a named original source. The student should not reject modern research merely because it is later; the task is to identify which claim has actually been checked.
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20. Cause and consequence require a mechanism, not a neat sequence
A student may list a 1959 estate, 1962 rental flats and 1966 redevelopment and then say the three dates prove everybody’s conditions improved. Chronology alone does not establish that broad consequence. A historical explanation needs to identify the specific change, a mechanism linking it to an outcome and evidence about the people or buildings affected.
Some new housing provided distinct facilities and greater density, but the scale and experience of improvements should be supported by sources appropriate to the question. The relocation of a household or survival of a terrace could involve different circumstances. Avoid inventing identical outcomes for all.
Ask the child to rewrite one causal sentence from the school’s own History unit. Identify factor, action, consequence and relevant clue. A precise explanation is more persuasive than a paragraph packed with dates and adjectives.
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21. Three-pupil discussion still requires three independently supported comparisons
A group of three can debate how housing sources relate, but the tutor should collect separate initial answers. One pupil may spot the right difference but use an unrelated quotation; another may treat 1959 and 1962 as a contradiction; a third may fail to explain the relation. These need different feedback targets.
Rotate roles in the discussion: relationship finder, evidence checker and scope challenger. Every learner should then write a new comparison quietly without the model. The tutor marks individual reasoning rather than distributing one identical group answer.
Parents should request a baseline school response, the correction and an unfamiliar later task. Personal progress is the advantage of small teaching groups; the number three alone guarantees nothing.
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22. Weekday lessons can repair fresh comparison errors but may add fatigue
An after-school tutorial can reopen a newly marked two-source answer while the learner remembers why it was written. The tutor can correct a false contradiction and ask for a fresh independent comparison later. That is a practical feedback loop when the child has enough time and energy.
But CCA, commuting, a missed meal, other subjects and sleep make the actual day important. A pupil arriving exhausted may copy the tutor’s transition words without understanding the historical relation. Parents should verify the real venue rather than assume tuition takes place on Jalan Tenteram.
A weekday is effective when it leaves room for an uncoached response in the following days. If it leaves the child too tired to think, a different timing or shorter plan may be better.
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23. A weekend tutorial must be followed by an unfamiliar source
Weekend History teaching can allow time to examine a 1964 aerial view beside an account of earlier terraces, and to ask what each reveals. A slower pace helps when weekday schoolwork is crowded. But the group still needs independent writing at the end.
A ten-minute unfamiliar pair during the school week checks whether the comparison method remains usable. The child should identify a specific overlap or difference and cite relevant evidence from both sources without the previous model.
Keep rest, meals, family obligations and other subjects in view. The goal is sustained accurate thinking, not the longest possible programme.
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24. Four weeks from two disconnected summaries to a defensible comparison
Week one diagnoses why a marked school answer failed to compare. Week two uses the housing phases to practise identifying the same object and period in two texts. Week three moves to the school’s actual topic and requires an unfamiliar evidence-based comparison.
Week four provides a new timed source pair. The tutor checks whether the relationship is explicit, both sources are used, dates are correct and the conclusion does not overreach. Preserve the first and final answers to assess transfer.
The cycle is a decision aid rather than a mandatory tuition package or guaranteed grade rise. When the skill is stable, continue with lighter practice; when the error remains, repair it more precisely instead of assigning more unrelated worksheets.
Four-week source-comparison review
| Week | Focus | Evidence of progress |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify why a marked source answer lacks an explicit comparison | One supported relationship statement |
| 2 | Compare SIT and HDB accounts with correct building and tenure scope | Accurate evidence from both sources |
| 3 | Practise corroboration using a new school History topic | Independent, appropriately qualified comparison |
| 4 | Complete an unseen paired-source question | Stronger uncoached answer and sustainable next action |
Jalan Tenteram Secondary 2 parent questions
Are the SIT terraces and Blocks 20–22 the same housing project?
No. They belong to different institutional and construction periods, although they share the broader locality.
Does 1959 contradict the 1962 completion date?
Not necessarily: 1959 describes the SIT St Michael’s Estate phase, while 1962 refers to specific HDB rental blocks.
Can we apply the $40 rental amount to SIT terrace purchases?
No. The amount is reported for the specified 1962 two-room rental flats, not purchase prices.
What does the 1948 Balestier SIT housing total describe?
It covers the wider group of Balestier SIT estates and should not be treated as Jalan Tenteram’s own building count.
Are surviving SIT terraces all gazetted monuments?
The cited heritage record establishes survival, not a universal claim of formal legal designation.
Do source summaries automatically corroborate each other?
Only when independent evidence addresses the same exact claim; shared subjects are not enough.
Are the practice resident and rental texts authentic?
No. They are openly labelled fictional mini-sources.
Will every Secondary 2 school examine local Jalan Tenteram history?
No. The example teaches historical method; the school syllabus determines assessment content.
Should the student join a three-person group?
Only if the class fits the child’s level and each learner receives differentiated feedback and independent writing opportunities.
Is weekday or weekend better for source comparison?
The time that preserves attention, rest, realistic travel and a later independent source attempt.
Is an eduKate History class confirmed at Jalan Tenteram?
This guide does not confirm that. Verify programmes, teaching address and available slots directly.
Primary research links and connected History levels
Start with NHB’s Balestier housing history, the refreshed heritage-trail release, Docomomo’s housing architecture study, HDB’s official institutional chronology and SG101’s Whampoa estate guide. They document different stages and scales of housing, not identical household experiences. The invented worked pair is fictional teaching material rather than eyewitness testimony.
Related guides: Secondary 1 Jalan Tenteram, Secondary 3, Secondary 4, Secondary 2 History Whampoa and the Clementi tutorial reference. The school’s own syllabus determines assessed History topics.
For a genuine teaching arrangement, bring the marked school source pair and weekly timetable. Check current eduKate programmes and centre locations or request a parent–student consultation before committing to any subject, day or venue. No local class, lesson time, fee or examination result is guaranteed by this article.