Do away with tuitions: Educationists

CHENNAI: With each passing academic year, tuition centers are mushrooming in every street of our cities. These tuition centers, often viewed as supplementary schools have rapidly turned itself into a money-minting business. However, educationalists speak about the ill-effects of these centers and why it is high time to do away with tuition.

Over the past many years, tuitions have no doubt become a good side business for teachers and a popular part-time job for many youth. But, the question arises if these tuitions really solve the purpose of ‘helping the child’—which stakeholders claim does not.

Though the Right to Education Act prohibits tuitions, especially by school teachers, the same is continuing. Most parents forcing children to take tuitions fail to see the real issues, and how the schools have failed in their jobs.

Speaking to DT Next, educationist PB Prince Gajendra Babu pointed out how the child spends most of its day either attending school or tuition. “Let us begin by pointing out that sending the child to tuitions are wrong, as it the responsibility of the school teachers to teach the child. Further, it is imperative that the child is encouraged to self-learn. Child should be allowed to struggle at learning new concepts and eventually comprehend them. However, this is not the practice today,” said Prince.

He further says that the child must not be pushed to tuitions and forced and punished into by-hearting concepts, which eventually defects the purpose of education.

“Parents should start confronting schools when they feel their child is underperforming. Instead, punishing the child into tuitions, normalises the notion that tuitions are better than schools. Moreover, it is high time to do away with tuition and parents to begin engaging with schools and hold the teachers accountable for students’ performance,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Class 9 student voicing his frustration said, “Tuition often restricts my ability to think freely. It places a heavy emphasis on memorising concepts rather than understanding them. Even when my answers are correct, I face criticism for not practising rote learning or writing textbook content verbatim.”

Many students attending tuition centers feel neglected and marginalised stating that the centers primarily prioritise high achievers. A Class 10 student sharing his experience, added, “I often feel neglected at my tuition centre. Teaching students like me is viewed as burdensome. This sense of neglect extends from school to tuition, impacting my prospects.”

A Class 6 student disclosed, “I face punishment, including being hit with a ruler when I performed poorly in math. The dual responsibility of managing tuition and school work leaves me stressed, affecting my sleep.”

A tutor running a tuition center noted, “We discipline students only with parental consent. We discourage rote learning and don’t neglect them based on their performance.”