Parents send their children to private tuition classes, blaming the crowded classrooms, lack of attention by the school teachers and the competitive school environment for their children’s poor performance, but how justifiable is this?
Previously, it was only students who struggled that would benefit from private tuition. However, we’ve seen a change in recent years. Private tuition has often been cited as one of the most effective ways of helping students achieve their academic potential. Due to the increasingly competitive nature of getting into popular schools, colleges and universities, parents tend to seek the added help and assistance of a private tutor even for their child who is excellent at school. From the teacher’s point, it is a difficult task for school teachers with often overcrowded classrooms to give personal attention and the support to all the students in the class. On the other hand, the school management expects it to be the teacher’s responsibility to divide attention amongst all students, keep the students motivated and interested and ensure that all the topics are taught within a timeframe so that subject material has been effectively covered.
With all these debatable issues regarding Private Tuition, Young Voice approached a few youngsters and this is how they voiced their thoughts on the matter.
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“The mushrooming of tuition centres all over the city highlights the plight of our education system. Even kindergarten children can be seen going for tuition. Parents are also to be blamed for this growing tuition culture. They shrink their responsibility of overseeing their children’s homework when they return from school. When everyone in the neighborhood send their wards to coaching centres, they feel they will fail in their duties as parents if they don’t go with the flow. Tuition should provide a good platform for student centric teaching. But, sadly most of them take in students beyond their capacity. Their only aim is to increase their capacity year by year”.
– Calvin Ravel
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“Tuition is obviously not a trend, but the present teachers make it a necessity. If teachers teach well in school, it wouldn’t be a big problem for parents to find coaching classes for their children. Following tuition classes is a good thing, but as a child myself I find it confusing when the school teacher teaches one method and the tuition teacher teaches something else. It is so confusing at times and we get messed up. From our parents’ point of view, they are correct in sending us for tuition, because they want us to do well in our studies. Thinking of it from our point of view attending these tuition classes are just too much for us because we sadly don’t have our freedom to play or relax.”
– Sahansa Amarathunga
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“While tuition to certain people might be helpful, to most it’s just a trend or another way to socialize with others. Most often or not we hear our peers talk about how many tuition classes they go to or the many tuition classes they go per subject. Due to this, one might feel obliged to do the same instead of thoroughly studying at home. This applies to parents as well. We completely agree that most parents enroll their kids to tuition classes as most other parents in their circle do so. This so-called trend is also turning into a competition not only amongst children but also parents. It would be wrong to cast tuition as unnecessary although it is not compulsory, because tuition itself is not a trend but the rise of how tuition has become integral to our life and synonymous with success is a trend, and a regrettable one”.
– James Jayawardena & Tarshiha Atukorale
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“Every one of us has been to at least one tuition class at some point in life. The whole purpose of tuition is to help children or even adults to understand something better. All parents want their children to succeed and to be the very best and to boast about at how well their kid is doing at school. It has been this way for so long that people’s mindset has evolved from “I want to see my child succeed, to I need my child to be better than hers”. This selfish nature of people has given rise to a completely separate industry called Tuition. This industry tricks all people into thinking that they need tuition and if they don’t go for tuition someone else will do better than them and make them failures in life. It is this misconception that makes taking tuition more a trend nowadays. When people hear that someone who scored well, goes to a particular tutor or institute, everyone else just blindly flock to the same place hoping that this same tutor or institution can help them score too. It has gone to an extent that students studying for a degree too go for tuition. In my opinion it is more to do with how much effort you put in yourself rather than going to tuition classes. It is not a necessity. But since the mindset of most people is that tuition will fix everything, tuition has really become a trend. This will be followed in the years to come as well.”
– Michelle Perera
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“Many students including myself need extra practice and guidance in anything we do not just for our studies. But yes, in my opinion I think tuition is more of an opportunity. It’s there if you need it but you are not required to do it. Tuition has helped me in the past not just in getting good grades at O’levels but also in understanding what I was learning”.
– AJ
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“Some go for tutiondue to slow progress! Never aware of the fact that slow progress can be the pillar to success. What I observe as a child is that tuition is not a necessity. Just sit back and justify why we need it! Our parents pay enormous amounts of money for our school education and yet send us for tuition. Why? Well, a little bit of extra learning will not do you any harm, but is it compulsory to attend tuition? Obviously, it is a trend now! Children are ashamed to say they don’t go for tuition while others are proud to say they go for tuition. So, accept it or not, in my opinion, tuition is a trend now, rather than a necessity”.
– Onelka Amarathunga
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“As the saying goes, “The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates and the great teacher inspires”. In my opinion it depends on how the teacher educates her student and whether the student gains knowledge from the tuition class to decide whether tuition is a necessity or a trend. For some students who engage in extracurricular activities and miss their lessons tuition would be of great help. Tuition is needed only for the subjects a child is weak at. At present due to the massive competitive environment in education, tuition has become a trend for some children. Some others go for tuition not to study, but, to enjoy each other’s company. It also depends on how the teacher controls the students and maintains discipline in the class. Simultaneously attending tuition for subjects, you are good at, is a waste of valuable time as self-study is the most important factor in education. Therefore, from my point of view, I would say tuition is necessary only for students who need extra knowledge or help in studies and it depends on how good the teacher is, as parents spend their hard-earned money on these tuition classes”.
– Mareen Salgado
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“Tuition is another way of learning, if a student doesn’t understand something. But, I think it should be done by the school for the student to resolve, all those problems about a subject. Having an extra class schedule is not needed at all to be honest.”
– Surani Nehasha