The New
Paper,
Saturday, Mar 05, 2016
English, Mathematics and yes, Chinese. These subjects are still in
demand, but there are also other unconventional subjects that form
the core of the $1 billion private tuition industry here.
Private tuition is as commonplace as myopia here. A poll last year
revealed that six in 10 parentsenrolled their secondary school
children in extra classes.
Increasingly, parents are also seeking help for non-conventional
subjects like coding and other niche subjects.
Epigami is a tuition agency that has the usual offerings of the
sciences, maths and languages.
But it also offers to help pair students with tutors for the
Punjabi language, programming and even pharmaceutical
chemistry.
Epigami's founder Victor du Mesnil du Buisson, 26, says:
"We have rather exotic subjects, but every subject that is listed
means someone has enquired about it before."
Mr Kabilen Sornum, 31, teaches secondary school students maths and
principles of accounts, but he also tutors students in business
studies and computer studies.
He currently has three students who learn maths from him, two who
do business studies and one for computer studies.
Mr Sornum started giving tuition 10 years ago. He holds master's
degrees in both computer engineering and business
administration.
EXPERIENCE
"Due to my experience in these fields, I know what's required and
can help students who need it," he says.
Do the tutors apply a different method of teaching non-core
subjects like computer science?
Mr Sornum says: "Although it's niche, it's pretty much the same. I
apply the same methods of teaching."
Miss Valerie Chai, who is a business studies tutor, says:
"It's all about strategy. It's about spotting how the questions are
being asked and coming up with answers that are generally
good."
Mr Sornum adds: "Parents can be demanding when they understand the
subjects that are being taught.
"Parents know the usual subjects more, so when it comes to ones
that they might not know, they might be less demanding."
Most of these teachers are found by their students through online
tuition agencies like Epigami.
Usually, these sites categorise tutors by their subjects and
interested parties can do a simple search to find help for the
subject they are looking for.
Mr Victor says: "They can either choose a tutor or tell us what
they want and we'll find help for them."
People who are interested in becoming teachers sign up with these
agencies, who then verify their credentials.
These tutors indicate what subjects they can teach and are then
added to the list.
Although there is help available for all sorts of subjects, the
demand is not consistent.
Mr Vignesh Vaidhyanathan Seshan has a master's degree in electrical
engineering from the National University of Singapore and offers
help with electrical technology and applications, a subject taught
at some secondary schools to students in the normal technical
stream.
It has been more than a year since he started offering the service,
but no one has approached him yet.
Mr Vignesh says: "I have the experience and went through the
syllabus. I could teach it, but my students ask to learn maths from
me instead."
Similarly, Mr Syahrulnizam Abdul Rahman, 38, advertises online that
he can teach music to O-level students but has yet to receive any
students for the subject.
Although the thriving tuition industry means that help is available
for many subjects here, not everyone is big on it.
WORRY
Mr Bhajan Singh, 70, a retired secondary school principal, says
that while some students may need supplementary coaching, he
worries about over-working the children.
Mr Singh says: "Tuition should never replace school.
"Parents might think that it could be helping their children, but
cramming in tuition after school might add to their
frustrations.
"It could even be counter-productive and their results could
dip."