GROUND ZERO A BUTTOM-UP PERSPECTIVE ON
ISSUES
Give
us a watchdog for tutors
Heartlanders are wondering if
anything can be done to help verify tutors'
qualifications
MAUREEN KOH
Tuition. It's a magic word that
affects most of us, whether we are grandparents, parents or
children.
The spotlight was thrown on tuition providers again
after The New Paper reported on Wednesday that the Ministry of
Health (MOH) is investigating the founder and managing director of
a tuition centre, Raffles EduHub, who claimed to be a locum medical
doctor and a child psychologist.
Checks with both the Singapore Medical Council and
MOH showed that her name is not on their lists of registered
doctors.
Heartlanders whom this correspondent spoke to
wanted to know what can be done to prevent such false claims.
They feel that the claim of being a doctor could
have atrracted parents to sign up with the tuition centre.
And it makes them worry about the state of the
tuition industry today.
Subsequent stories in TNP revealed that almost
anyone can set up a tuition agency.
One 21-year-old said that he had 30,000 tutors on
his toll, and that he was matching them to clients. He did not
check their qualifications.
This comes on the back of another incident last
year where a tutor - who proclaimed he'd been in the Gifted
Education Programme - had his bluff called.
Housewife Sandie Tan, 48, sends her children, 14
and 11, to two different tuition centres for coaching in three
subjects.
She says: "Every time I read such reports, I start
to worry about my kids' tutors.
I mean, if a tuition centre can operate for nine
years (such as Raffles Eduhub) before someone finds out something
is not quite right, how can I be sure (the others) are fine?"
Mr Gan Peck Chin, 41, a sales executive, is just as
concerned each time he comes across such reports.
"What frustrates me more is that we are constantly
reminded that there is no official authority that we can approach
to verify a tutor's or a centre's claim and qualifications," says
the father of three young children.
Mr Gan's frustration is shared by 28 out of the 30
parents randomly approached by this heartland aunty.
All of them offer stories of bad experiences with
tutors, tuition centres and even tuition agencies at one time or
another.
Most times, they merely drop the current ones and
engage the services of new ones.
Says the mother of a pair of twins in Mandarin:
"It's not like I can go to one particular organisation to
complain.
Moreover when a problem comes up, parents are more
worried about finding a replacement quickly so that our children
won't waste more time."
And complaints against errant tutors or agencies,
unlike tuition centres which have to be registered with Ministry of
Education (MOE), can be a waste of time, say those polled.
Mr Joel Ho, 38, a shop assistant says: "We have
nowhere or no one really from which to seek redress. And by the
time we get something going, our children's exams may be round the
corner."
A check with the Consumers Association of Singapore
(Case) indicates that the number of complaints made against tuition
centres or tutors since 2010 hovered below 10. The numbers refer to
both filed and assisted cases, says Case's executive director Seah
Seng Choon.
This
heartland aunty thinks a few or no complaints don't mean that all
is well.
Unlike my older child, who has gone through his
primary school years without any tuition, I sent my daughter to a
tuition centre for two months last year when she was preparing for
her PSLE. By the second month, I did not see an improvement in her
grades. She also failed one of her Math test.
That was it.
I pulled her out of the centre at once. There was
no time for complaints. Getting help for her as quickly as possible
was the only thing on my mind.
Of course, I still lament that there is no form of
regulation for an industry that caters to almost one in two
Singaporean parents (and their children), according to some
surveys.
An Asian Development Bank report (ADB) pegged
parents' spending on tuition here at $820 million in 2008.
It also said the amount spent on private
supplementary tutoring has been on the rise and has doubled from 10
years ago.
I can only imagine what the spending is now five
years since the report, when there is a plethora of tuition
centres, agencies and tutors - some of which charge thousands a
month for the privilege of attending their classes (yes, a student
has to take a test and ace it before they get to attend tuition at
the centre).
Now, back to the state of our industry - or rather,
the unregulated state of the industry.
There is of course,
caveat emptor or "let the buyer beware".
We can urge parents to verify such claims.
As Case's Mr Seah advises: "We like to urge
consumers to do their due diligence and check the credentials of
the tutors they engage for their children.
"They should verify the tutor's credentials with
the Ministry of Education or the institutions which issue the
credentials, so that they do not fall into traps of dubious tuition
agencies or private tutors."
While I agree that parents have to take
responsibility for who they hire, can you imagine the volume of
inquiries that would come into the inboxes of the authories should
every parent check?
Seems like there is a need for a more holistic
solution.
Don't get me wrong. I am not advocating for a
heavily regulated Singapore, but surely some form of regulation in
this multi-million dollar industry is justificate?
Maybe anyone who wants to be a tutor should have to
file her qualifications with a Government agency, say, the Council
for Private Education, which has private education institutions
within its ambit?
It's not too far stretch to say these tuition
centres, agencies are private education institutions too,
right?
The agency can also run background checks so that
the person teaching my child would have had no previous issues with
child molestation, for instance.
This way, tuition agencies (which fall outside the
purview of MOE) will be have to ensure that they engage safe, and
qualified tutors who can really deliver what they promise.
Steps to screen
tutors
1 Ask to see academic
certificates and transcripts.
You have every right to them. No qualified tutor
will turn down the request.
2
Ask tutors for their National Institute of Education (NIE)
transcripts, which will indicate which subjects they have been
trained to teach.
Note that tuition agencies (which provide
tutor-student matches) do not have to be registered with MOE,
unlike tuition centres which operate as schools.
3
Research online. Read reviews in forums or ask your friends on
Facebook. Google the tutor or centre and chances are, there will be
some form of traces that can offer crucial information or
details.
4
Sit in on one session. It gives you the opportunity to gauge a
tutor's skills and how your child reacts to him/her. You can also
see how professional or friendly the tutor is.
5
Have a chat with the tutor. A personal chat gives you a chance to
suss out the tutor. You can ask him/her about work experience,
track record or even school background.
The New Paper On Sunday 12 May 2013, Pg 12-13