The School VS Tuition Centres by Nancy Lobo

Tuitions have become an essential part of our schooling system. And no, I do not refer to tuitions as in ‘tuitions fee’ written on a school fee slip that parents make payments for. Tuitions, in this article refers to the extra help that students seek outside formal school hours and for which parents so willingly pay towards in order to ensure that their child secures A grades in the examinations. A double tuition fees is what these parents then pay! (And we call ourselves an ‘economically poor nation’!) Is there anything wrong with this? Nothing, if one can afford the fee! Plenty, if one cannot afford it and as parents feel ineffectual. But, as a school, we should feel ashamed if our students are going off for tuitions!

Students take up private tuitions for at least one if not more subjects and they do so because they do not get the education they require at school. Research studies conducted by Chuadhry and Javed (2012) in Punjab indicate that students are better prepared for examinations at the tuition academies where the teachers are more understanding and answer students queries. Parents believe that their children become more confident in communicating with them and their teachers. One can only wonder why such skills are not developed in schools. Though this study was conducted with students in government schools, private schools, including the ones catering to the elite class, have students rushing off to tuitions at all times of the day and night. It is the need to excel in examinations and the competition to get admissions in good universities in Pakistan and abroad that motivates such behaviours, even if it means missing school.

So have schools failed, or have they joined hands with the tuition centres, are fair enough questions to ask, the later not meriting an answer at all as schools involved would plead the fifth, hence I will endeavour to answer the first.

Schools are an integral part of an educational system in a country and their contribution toward students’ learning should not be in doubt. The doubt begins when students do not perform well academically, in terms of tests and examinations results, and dissatisfied students and parents find it easier to lay the blame on the school. Unfortunately, sometimes schools too begin to blame themselves, particularly their teachers. Do teachers create the problems or is it really the examination system?

As Khan (2013) claims in his article in The ExpressTribune, teachers are not being paid well and seek additional employment after school to supplement their income, so they teach ineffectively in schools so that the students will attend their private tuition sessions. In a utopian world this seems unreal, it maligns the image of a teacher, but Khan is not far from the truth. School teachers are paid low salaries ranging from PK Rs 5,000 to 30,000 and in terms of inflation today one wonders how they survive.  In addition, classroom environments create many difficulties for the teacher where there are 50 odd students in one class and 30 to 40 minutes to teach a lesson. Such a situation is definitely not conducive for students, particularly those with learning difficulties, as teachers cannot give them individual attention. So for the few slow learners, the only option viable maybe to seek private tuitions when parents are unable to help them at home.

However, a very important factor contributing to the tuition culture in our country is the examination system. In the study conducted by Chuadhry and Javed, 95% students in government schools seek additional help at formal tuition academies. Students claim that their teachers in school do not finish the course and do not answer all their queries.  Unfortunately the examination system, largely, emphasizes the need for professional learners, who are trained to answer examination questions effectively.  This, as Patel (2008) points out in her article, makes students focus on the content and the use of rote memory techniques rather than indulging in developing their independent learning skills and investigating different phenomenon. So, at tuition centres learning independently and developing necessary skills to do so is not a priority, unless it focuses on learning how to take examinations.

It is examinations which seem to take priority for students, their parents and even schools when they focus on getting good result, even if it means that students spend their afternoons and evenings at tuitions! As a result, why bother to have schools, just send students to tuition centres from day one of formal education and have examination boards organize themselves for exams at all levels. On second thought, wouldn’t it be better if schools transformed themselves into tuition centres, at least parents will have only one tuition fee to pay!  

Reference List:

Chuadhry, W.  and Javed, F. (2012). History and culture of tuition academies: voicing native’s

perspective. Asian Journal of Management Sciences and Education, Vol. 1. No. 3. From:

http://www.ajmse.leena-luna.co.jp/AJMSEPDFs/Vol.1(3)/AJMSE2012(1.3-11).pdf

Khan, K. (2013). Tuition culture. The Express Tribune. April 5^th. From:            http://tribune.com.pk/story/531127/tuition-culture/

Patel, B. (2008) The tuition culture. Pakistan Education News: Education News Archive 2007-08-09-10-11-12-2013. From:              http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/March-08/Tuition-culture.asp