The toil of education begins again, working on questions already taught in the classroom, revisiting theories already explained at the school. [break]
After the tutor leaves, students sit down for their school homework now piled up with work given during the tuition. A culture has been created in the living rooms and study rooms of our homes, in the dark rooms of tuition centers and education consultancies.
Students are resorting increasingly toward private lessons, attending tuition classes and moving out of the classroom setting.
The main reason for these tuition classes seems to be the universal fear of failing. Both students and parents are afraid of failure and seek the help of private tutors.
With a limited number of subjects to teach and sessions that last up to three hours, tuition teachers provide focused support to students in need.
Individualized ways of teaching and focusing on weaker points of these students seem to help these students boost their skills as well as their confidence.
“We get a focus that just isn’t possible in classrooms,” says Smarika Gyawali, a Grade IX student at St Mary’s High School. Smarika is taking tuitions in Maths and Science. “I’m weak in these subjects and I can focus specifically on these subjects during tuitions. The teachers also pay more attention to me and my weak points that help me learn,” she adds.
This culture does seem to be more prevalent in high school students attending +2 or A-Level courses. The subjects, more specialized and tough, seem to be weighing heavy on students. And with the number of colleges that offer A-Levels and +2 courses, there is no telling which colleges are the good ones.
High school students complain that teachers aren’t very qualified in various colleges while other colleges seem to have teachers who are highly qualified but unable to teach. This can create a wide gap in learning leading students to a tutor of their own choice.
Another reason for this rise in tuition culture also seems to be classrooms and the different kinds of students it compromises of. Different students have their own learning curve and their own individual pace of learning.
A teacher will find it very difficult to match these different paces and will usually stay in sync with the brightest student.
This tends to cause a sort of communication failure. Tuitions do away with varying learning curves and individual focus brings the teacher and learning student in the same wavelength.
“There are too many students in the classroom,” says Swasti Upreti, a tenth grader at Rato Bangala School. ‘This difference in paces forces students to take private tuitions and when students start taking tuitions, they tend to take the studies in class for granted. These students don’t listen in class and further distract other students trying to learn. It’s like a cycle,” she explains.
The students are no saints either, teachers may have a hard time teaching students but students aren’t making the effort to help them. Students, especially high school students, find a new-found freedom and teenage angst that they tend to succumb to.
The rebellious attitude of students tends to hamper their studies and as an act of rectifying their mistake, they usually go for tuitions. In school, students tend to get distracted by various other factors like friends and love.
These variables distract the wandering mind of young teenagers making it difficult for teachers to educate them.
“It’s in the nature, their age,” says Yaroshal Shrestha, teacher of accounts at Modern Indian School and Kathmandu Valley College and a tuition teacher as well.
“These students have been controlled throughout their school lives. They get too influenced by the freedom that high schools provide. Some students bunk classes and get influenced by so many other things that tuitions are their only resort. Classes move at a certain pace and we can’t repeat a lesson for students who’ve missed it,” he says.
The tuition taking culture has now engulfed good students as well. Tuitions are no longer restricted to weaker students; good students also seem to want additional support in their studies.
Students are getting more competitive and so is the education sector. Students are now competing for students from all across the globe for admission into international colleges.
This causes students to panic, creating a heavier load of pressure on their studies.
“Everything is more competitive now and we all want to score good grades,” says Ajay Adhikari, second year student of A-Level at Malpi Institute. “I don’t take tuitions just a few months before the exams, I take them in good time because that way I can practice well and understand concepts before the teachers at school teach them to me. It’s more like a supplement,” he says.
Tuition centers and teachers offering part-time tuitions are growing. Students are opting for more forms of private lessons to accompany their formal education.
A trend that seems to be influenced by the increasing demands of the ruthless battlefield that is the high school education system.
Related story
‘Love Station’ donates for children
