Should I Engage a Tutor for My Child?

Your child has just gotten back the results from the recent exam. It’s far from ideal. Now you’re wondering if you should engage a tutor to help him or her. This article aims to clear up the air on some of the legitimate concerns of outsourcing the teaching of your child.

The Role of Tuition

Why should I get tuition for my child if I’m already paying for school? This is a valid question. In a perfect world with a perfect education system, we won’t need tutors. However, we know that the reality is contrary.

While tutoring, I’ve noticed that many of my students make very little progress in school, and we’re where we left off from the previous week. I often ask them, “Don’t you learn anything in school?” These are the students that slip through the cracks; the ones that don’t get the support they need.

That’s where tuition comes in – to fill this gap. I believe that the problem lies less with the school teacher and more with the system – specifically the use of resources, large class sizes, and manpower.

Having taught in a Singapore primary school for 7 years, I’ve realised that in most cases, resources are poured into the higher achieving students to stretch them, and into the poor performing students to help them pass. Time, energy and finances are limited and schools often have to decide the best use of these resources. This leaves the middle achievers largely ignored, struggling and left to flounder on their own.

Another scenario is the quiet students who disappear in the class. They are generally well-behaved, don’t attract attention and do relatively well enough to not raise any red flags to the teacher. Trying to coach such children can be very taxing as they often return blank stares or whisper one word answers. With class sizes that run up to 40, it’s just not practical for most teachers to meet their needs. Teachers are at risk of trying to catch two rabbits and losing both.

Lastly, and this is more the exception than the rule, retired contract teachers that return to make some pocket money. I know many that return to teaching because they still feel the unction to invest in the next generation, and they return with much passion and fervour. However, I’ve also encountered a few that do the bare minimum and just clock the hours to get paid. In this latter case, the whole class suffers academically, as they’re stuck with just a babysitter, sometimes for a whole year.

Expectations

A parent once asked me, “Can you guarantee that my child get A*?” At that point I didn’t know how to respond and maybe mumbled something like, “I’ll try my best.” If I’m asked that today, I would say, “No. Nobody can guarantee that. And if they say that, they have no idea what they’re talking about.” Whether your child achieves an A* for any subject is a result of good teaching, maturity, their own hard work and their perseverance, all in equal measure.

Many tuition centres list the number of A* they have achieved each year but that’s not a good indicator of whether your child will get the help that he or she needs. Some centres achieve this by kicking out the bad students and keeping the good ones.

Do some research and ask around in forums and read reviews from sources other than just the tuition centre’s website. If you can, go down to the centre and meet the tutor yourself.

What to Look For

In my opinion, the most important factor is that the tutors care for their wards. Some look at students as cash cows, some look to improve or maintain their centre’s good track record, and some really work with the students’ best interest in mind.

Find a tutor that you feel comfortable relating with. Having that professional openness will allow both sides to leverage off each other to help your child. Totally dumping all the responsibility for your child’s learning on the tutor will yield much less progress for your child than working together with the tutor.

Some centres simply run curriculum, and it’s up to your child to catch up. They’re like moving trains – keep up or get off. Go for those that have systems in place to meet your child’s personalised needs where possible.

Classroom size matters. Large lecture style classrooms only benefit extremely self-motivated students. A smaller classroom allows more bandwidth for your child to clarify doubts in class and for the tutor to allocate time to remediate where needed.

What makes a good tuition centre is not its reputation or their track record. It’s their tutors. And like schools, there are good and bad ones in every centre. Take the time to dig a little deeper. You just might find a gem of a teacher that will coach your child to shed off his or her own perceived limitations and achieve what they never thought possible.

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