Are Student our Customer?

I was attending a seminar when this question was brought up. Should we take our student as our customer?The speaker, a doctorate, opposed strongly to the idea. She mentioned that such concept are very american and used in business corporation, thus we should not run a school like a business entity. A school is a place where not only knowledge is transpired, discipline is also taught and enforced.

My view is that the answer to the question can be either a yes and no.

Yes. Student is our customer.

We teachers need them! Else where will we be?? Similarly, relating it to a business, no customer mean no business. In this context, I do agree, we are providing our service (teaching) to them. Helping them to learn and gain knowledge, a trainer-learner relationship.

No. Student cannot be our customer.

The role of a teacher is never teaching alone. We mould and build student's character too. Punish if we must. Which is more of a parent-child relationship.

I do not question the both side of the answer, which sounds logical. However, I do ponder why this question were surface? Perphaps, many private schools in Singapore are concerned with the number of student they have, which is the more the merrier and I equates that to higher income for them. Therefore, probably why this concept of student being our customer arises. Have anyone heard of a customer being caned or sacked?? I am not sure if such discipline programmes are in place in these institution, but I do hope that there is.

Personally, I feel as an educator and teacher regardless of whether we are in a government or private schools, we should uphold our primary tasks that is

1. To Teach

2. Mould and build responsible furture generations.