Debate Surrounding Private Home Tuition

A good number of Malaysians would relate the phrase “tuition” with private educational institutions. This is right to some extent considering that the private educational institutions are a representation of the numerous types of supplementary tuition programs scattered all over the country. Nevertheless, there is a different type of tuition which has been growing in popularity across the country and among many parents. This type of coaching is referred to by a number of names such as personal tuition, home tuition, one-on-one tuition, private tuition, small group tuition, and individual tuition just to name but a few terms. However, even with all these names, there is a major difference that helps distinguish this kind of tuition with the tuition centres in that the coaching is done in a ration between students and teachers and this simply translates to a more individualized attention that is directed towards each student. The hope and idea behind this kind of coaching is that this individual attention would help achieve more efficient results as opposed to what is achieved in the tuition schools or centres.

Personal tuition with special attention

When we talk about private tuition, the question in many peoples’ mind is just how personal is the attention given to the individual students participating in the coaching programme? The kind of one-on-one tuition with the biggest number of students or class size is normally referred to as small group tuition or merely as group tuition. Normally, typical small group tuition is never comprised of more than 10 learners who are coached by a single tutor of tuition teacher. These learners might or might not be in the same stage in their studies.

Nevertheless, each student is allocated a portion of the assigned tuition time thus making it possible for each one of them to enjoy some kind of private tutoring directed to him or her only. In normal cases, private tuition normally takes between 1 to 3 hours in some cases. As a result, each individual student will highly benefit if he or she is in a much smaller group size. Weigh this against the class size in tuition centres or schools, which at some point consists of between 25 to 50 students, particularly in most urban private educational institutions. One of the saddest things is that a good number of these tuition centres are overcrowded with classes consisting of more students that the actual school classrooms.

Each student has his or her own teacher

A reasonable idea to the tendency of reducing the size of classes is that of one tuition teacher for one student. This is one of the reasons as to why the coaching has been termed as one-on-one tuition, which therefore makes it as one of the most exclusive kind of private coaching ever available in Malaysia or elsewhere. It simply means that the tuition teacher in this scenario will dedicate his/her attention 100% throughout the training period thus giving the student an atmosphere required to absorb what is being taught and ask questions privately whenever necessary. In most cases, the private tutor will become so accustomed to his or her student’s learning skills and habits thus making it easier for him/her to customize the coaching process in a manner that will encourage maximum levels of understanding and knowledge retention.

Complete personal interest towards students

What makes small group tuition the best and most preferred type of coaching in Malaysia and elsewhere? First of all, it is the consideration of many and especially those behind the formulation of this form of tuition that the private tutor or teacher has the capability to provide an extra push to the student whenever necessary considering that school teachers have to deal with too many students and classes thus affording too little time that is required to attend to each student individually. This is especially true when students are preparing for a major exam.

Since the school teachers have to bear the greater weight of large classrooms, offering personalized attention is an extremely rare occurrence in schools no matter how much one might be willing to do it. Then again, students in these large classes who are unable to move at the same speed with the school lessons might also be unwilling to keep on asking questions to the teachers continually either because they are ashamed of it or are unwilling to delay the progress of the class. In normal cases, such questions will only force the teachers handling the classes to repeat what has already been taught thus slowing the process of syllabus coverage.  Consequently, the students feel totally guilt-free and at ease when being handled by a private tutor since they have already paid for the tuition sessions being offered.

More and more!

Different students have different needs especially when it comes to handling of different subjects in schools. It is therefore important for each one of them to enjoy personalized attention especially in areas they are struggling with thus making it easy for them to ask questions that are relevant to their situation. The personal attention offered by the tutors to the students in one-on-one tuition can be very useful in handling various subjects such as sciences or mathematics whereby a student who is weak can take advantage of step by step assistance.

The tutors involved in private tuition can take the students through a thorough process of the solution while being able to point out to the students where they might be going wrong in different subjects. Another advantage related with one-on-one tuition is that private tutors are able to teach their students some short cut methods that are useful for solving problems and formulas especially in mathematics. By so doing, the students can boost of having an edge over their peers while at the same time making school lessons more enjoyable since it becomes easy to follow what is being taught in the classrooms by school teachers. Additionally, the students acquire some superior learning methods which are advantageous over the conventional ones used in large classes by teachers.

Private tuition breathes in some new life to the students’ learning capabilities and eliminates boredom that is common in large classes. As the students approach their school lessons, it gives them the ability to get the answers to the solutions even before anyone else. This of course boasts their morale and encouragement to do more. Since the private tutor only teaches the students according to their pace, there is always a great advantage considering that the students are not rushed to finish their syllabus as is the case when it comes to class teachers. In case a student is struggling with a certain topic, the tutor is able to concentrate on that until everything is cleared up. On the other hand, if the student works on a certain section too fast, the tutor can offer an extra thrust by teaching him or her beyond the course books.

High-quality attention for weak students

More people are increasingly becoming aware of the effectiveness of individual tuition and in particular when these students concerned have extreme weakness. Such cases have lead to frustration in many parents and guardians who have used every other avenue to find a solution for their children’s academic predicament with no tangible results. When dealing with a poorly performing child, a big number of parents would first consider sending him or her to a nearby tuition centre. However, this has on and on proved to be inadequate making many to consider private tuition. When this is done, one-on-one is always the first form of tuition that promises maximum effects. Home tuition is normally the last solution for parents who have to deal with students who are extremely weak. And although not many private tutors are willing to agree that they have effected a complete turnaround in such students, it is unlikely that the results of their work will be hidden especially when you look at the positive grade improvement in students who go through private tuition.

As a result, private tuition seems to have established a name for itself especially in the Malaysian tuition setting. Many people consider it to be a pillar of last options. Some turn to it so as to strengthen academic achievements. In conclusion, there some who embrace it with the aim of keeping pace with the school lessons but this does not mean that all will agree with it. Of course, private tuition has its own share of critics who see it as unnecessary and would not subscribe to it for now. Such critics are not scoffing at its helpfulness, but instead wonder whether there are any substitute measures, that could be less costly and that could also help achieve these same results. With this in mind, it is very clear that private tuition answers to a genuine need in our learning system and therefore needs to be encouraged while looking at ways through which it can be made cheaper and affordable. There is no denying that home tuition is essential, effective and here to stay. However, the biggest question that we might have to contend with is whether one-on-one tuition will be fully embraced by the public in Malaysia. Only time will tell.