Growing obsession with private tuitions What is taught in the classrooms ?
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Stop. Pause. Think over it. The Sangai Express joins the State Government, the parents and family members in wishing the students appearing for their Class XII examinations, for their success, but this is the opportune moment for everyone to look back and digest the reality. It was not like this but down the decades the Class XII and Class X examinations have come to be identified as the process to sift the ‘bright’ and ‘meritorious’ students from the rest and in the process everything seems to have been reduced to an exercise of scoring marks and more marks. Nothing wrong with this, one may say, for everything revolves around how well a student does in the exam, starting from Class X to Class XII to CUET, NEET, to JEE, to NET and all other entrance tests that one can think of. And tests and exams invariably mean looking beyond the classrooms to put to test the ‘merit’ of the young student and this is where one can see the connect between this reality and the growing private tuition culture. By itself private tuitions should not be understood or seen as running counter to education, but when this sort of becomes a compulsion, then it is perhaps time for everyone to think over this growing culture seriously. Time was when private tuitions were resorted to as the last means to help a student cope with a particular subject, but this is today a dinosaur. And this cuts all the way through, whether the parents are moneyed enough the meet the cost that private tuitions entail or whether parents feel constrained to keep their children in the ‘race.’ Apart from the obsession with marks and more marks, such a culture could also be a reflection that nothing of much substance is being taught inside the classrooms. Given the mad rush for private tuitions, private tuition is today no longer about giving undivided attention of the teacher to a student who may need help in certain subjects such as Maths or Physics or even the languages. Far from this, the reality is, private tuition classes are as jam packed as some of the regular classrooms are, thereby negating the very understanding of providing the needed attention to each child. A point which no parent or elder of the family seems to have raised within themselves. Private tuition should be understood as the arrangement to help a student make up in areas where he or she is weak and cannot replace the teaching in the classroom. The reality however tells a different story, a story that should worry all discerning parents and school authorities, for in one way or the other reliance on private tuition is a telling commentary that not enough is being done inside the classrooms.
A look at the growing private tuition culture should shame the schools, especially the private schools, which come with a huge fee. A line which was so clearly brought out by well known commentator and columnist Suhel Seth, in one of his talks. Acknowledging the growing culture of private tuition needs taking the reality into consideration. Tutors emerge not only to help give the cutting edge to the students but also due to financial constraints. This is the truth. A look at the pay structure at any of the private schools should tell a significant story. The maths is simple enough. It always works better to reserve one’s energy and focus for the private tuition than in expending the same in the classrooms since the financial gain from private tuitions is much higher. This is where private schools ought to give another long, hard look at the pay structure of its teachers. Are they being paid enough to dispense with their duties diligently or is the school there just to provide the classrooms and a blackboard for the teacher to come and attend and then leave the real teaching part for the tuition classes ? Parents and guardians too can raise this question during any of the parents-teachers meeting or during a meeting with the school authority concerned. Why should parents be constrained to make up for the pay shortage of the teachers via private tuition ?
A look at the growing private tuition culture should shame the schools, especially the private schools, which come with a huge fee. A line which was so clearly brought out by well known commentator and columnist Suhel Seth, in one of his talks. Acknowledging the growing culture of private tuition needs taking the reality into consideration. Tutors emerge not only to help give the cutting edge to the students but also due to financial constraints. This is the truth. A look at the pay structure at any of the private schools should tell a significant story. The maths is simple enough. It always works better to reserve one’s energy and focus for the private tuition than in expending the same in the classrooms since the financial gain from private tuitions is much higher. This is where private schools ought to give another long, hard look at the pay structure of its teachers. Are they being paid enough to dispense with their duties diligently or is the school there just to provide the classrooms and a blackboard for the teacher to come and attend and then leave the real teaching part for the tuition classes ? Parents and guardians too can raise this question during any of the parents-teachers meeting or during a meeting with the school authority concerned. Why should parents be constrained to make up for the pay shortage of the teachers via private tuition ?