The Private Tuition Paradigm in a World of Educational Assumptions

Private tuition has become an educational reality post-twentieth century, post-Covid enhanced global digital learning. Whether be in person or online tuition, cram schooling or pair and group workshops, private tuition is now officially a self-proclaimed professionis be it for a college student to a PhD academic.

And this is all well and proper in a world where education policy is revisited like a Matrix reality with curriculum changes and assessment pressures, parental dichotomies and elite strives that take place daily.

However, within the realm of educational debate and assumption, the question still remains intact. Private tuition is happening and it is happening fast. How does one escape the assumption of a dichotomous link between tutors, teachers and the parental agency in lieu of a harmonious instruction whereby the ball is not aimed at each other? Parents blame schools for the lack of resources, quality and differentiated instruction, schools blame the government, parents and external tuition influence for the lack of grade attainment and tutors, well…blame a bit of both, thus the ball keeps rolling.

In a world of educational instability and unsubstantiated assumptions, it would only be right to consider the private tuition paradigm as one worldly view, but with a cherry on the top! Blair’s ‘Education, education, education’ catchphrase has now been substituted with our advocacy for ‘Quality, quality, quality!’, and while China is leading the way to privatisation and regulation, UK leaders are pining for their own national recognition with the promise of a national system run by none other than a Dutch firm.

Could this really be the solution to our unregulated provision of private instruction?

What China has been trying to implement is so to eradicate student burnout through Saturday and holiday long hourly tuition sessions, nationalising provision through national schemes and monetarising professional instruction. UK, on the other hand, is implementing the NTP agenda in schools but continuing the practice of outsourced tuition by parents.

National providers are advocating for a tutor certification thus adding to the unregulated quality and deflecting from the real issue. In essence, everyone with any background can pay in exchange for a certification that will place that person in front of a child, and while certification is rolled out by buckets, self-proclaimed professionis will continue the long but not lost of private tuition paradigm in a world of continuum of educational assumptions.