Key Points
- Parents from migrant communities invest thousands of dollars each year in private tutoring services for their children.
- Some parents say they have difficulty finding good tutors and believe schools should assist in locating them.
- According to the Australian Tutoring Association, there are an estimated 80,000 tutors and over 5,000 tutoring businesses nationwide.
“I want my child to achieve a high ATAR or pass selective school exams, and that means such coaching becomes essential.”
Shiny Mehta with her three children. Credit: Supplied
Private tutoring services are mushrooming in Australia, largely driven by demand from Asian migrant communities, especially those from China and India.
But a lack of regulation has led to concerns around tutor accountability, learning inequalities and impact on children’s mental health.
‘An investment in their future’
Reet Phulwani, a mother of three who also relies on private tutoring, shared similar views.
“As a businesswoman, using private tutors to help my children with their school assignments and homework makes it easier for us to manage.
“It’s an additional annual expense, with over $5,000 for two kids, on top of paying a premium for their school fees. But we see it as an investment in their future.”
Private tutoring and ‘vulnerable’ communities
“This can be seen by the number of Indian academics who excel globally in various fields of endeavour including physics, IT, chemistry, mathematics, the sciences more broadly and in business,” he added.
Mohan Dhall, CEO of the Australian Tutoring Association. Credit: Supplied
“Research shows that while about one in seven children in the UK hires a private tutor, the ratio is much higher in Indian, Chinese and South Korean communities, where one in three to four children have a tutor,” Dhall said, adding that he anticipated a similar pattern in Australia.
Dhall urged parents to seek a clear understanding of what to expect from tutoring services and to hold tutors accountable for the promises they make.
Expert urges parents to seek a clear understanding of what to expect from tutoring services and to hold tutors accountable for the promises they make. Credit: Deepak Sethi/Getty Images
“Many vulnerable parents, who may lack advanced education or financial resources, often feel that the tutoring sector provides limited information about their child’s progress, learning or the specific methods used to help them,” he noted.
The struggle to find the right tutor
“It’s challenging to find the right tutor for your child, so I hope schools can get involved, and the government can regulate the industry to ensure that both parents and children benefit,” Phulwani said.
Many parents from migrant communities, such as the Indian, Chinese and South Korean communities, hire tutors for their school-aged children. Credit: DEAN LEWINS/AAPIMAGE
Mehta added, “I talked to other parents and found tutors for my kids. While there are private education options like Kumon available, they don’t work for every child”.
Dhall emphasised that while responsible parents must understand their child’s needs, responsible tutors should also be transparent about whether tutoring is necessary and if it is causing the child any additional stress.
There are numerous things that need to be done to make private tutoring more accountable and safer … All tutors should be accountable for what they say their qualifications and experience are, and the service they purport to provide.
Mohan Dhall, CEO of the Australian Tutoring Association
“Numerous promises are made and parents do not understand their commercial rights, and do not exercise their commercial rights when unqualified tutors take their money but do not provide appropriate services.”
According to Australian Tutor Association CEO Mohan Dhall, there are approximately 80,000 tutors nationwide, with around 5,000 businesses engaged in academic coaching or tutoring. Credit: SDI Productions/Getty Images
“Each of these issues could be addressed through a licensing framework that would be relatively simple to implement and would be relatively cheap,” he said.