PRIVATE coaching classes and tuition centers are very popular in the South Asian expatriate community here if the ubiquitous advertisements found outside community restaurants and grocery stores in expat-concentrated localities advertising the services of private tutors are anything to go by. Very often, our friends, neighbors and colleagues can be found marketing the expertise of a certain tutor. All of this is despite the fact that private tuition classes are illegal in the Kingdom. Parents do all they can to educate their children in the best possible way. However, with increasing dissatisfaction over school standards and the ensuing reliance on private tutors, this often takes a big bite on their budgets. “My son who recently appeared for the Secondary School Certificate (S.S.C) exams joined a tuition center along with his classmates. He used to study on his own, but one of his friends insisted that he would get extra help if he joined evening classes,” said Mehmood Ul Hassan Gilani, a parent whose son is in class 12 at the Pakistani International School Jeddah (PISJ). He said private tuition is now a customary part of the expat community. “A large number of students gather at the tutor's residence for classes, especially during the period between the preliminary exams and the annual exams. This is when tutors are able to make a lot of money,” Gilani said. Considered by many to be a lucrative business, private coaching centers have mushroomed in recent years, especially in areas with a high expat population, such as Hara Al-Askaria District in Riyadh and Al-Aziziah District in Jeddah. Who conducts these private tuition classes? They are mostly school teachers who moonlight as private tutors. Meager salaries and the skyrocketing cost of living have increasingly forced teachers to resort to looking for an additional means of income. Then there are also those at home who deem tutoring to be a convenient means of earning a handsome income. “The Saudi Ministry of Education strictly prohibits private tuition classes because it considers it unethical, but nevertheless, it is not a crime for which one can be taken to a court of law,” said Mr. AB, a teacher who works in a school in Riyadh, requesting anonymity. “A private tutor may well earn around SR20,000 to SR30,000 a month depending upon the academic timing. He still works in a school, which is his sponsor and provides him with an Iqama. However, the question is where are the ethics in being a private tutor? But, then, who is talking about ethics?” he asked. “We have come here leaving our families back home to earn a decent living. However, this is not possible when the school pays us less than SR2500 per month,” he added. Usually parents who are not content with their child's academic performance at school or wish that he were a level ahead of others opt for private coaching. Students, who are unable to comprehend certain subjects or are dissatisfied with the teaching style of a particular teacher in the class or simply, those who wish to score well, choose private tuition classes. In some schools, the class strength may range between 45 to 60 students. As such, it is hardly possible for any teacher to give equal time and individual attention to all students. Tuition classes are also thought to be a boon for students who wish to join competitive courses back home or abroad and are faced with tough competition. Additionally, the fact that private tutoring continues to thrive points towards the declining standards of some schools. Picture this. A student in a class is listening to the teacher's lecture. The student is close to grasping the concept when the bell rings and the period is over. Where would the student go? Rather than choosing to remain confused for days, he may wish to be privately tutored. What's more, the same school teacher, who lives nearby, provides tuition classes to a group of students at her home. What will the student's parents do? Definitely, they will not ruin their son's career. Students, willingly or unwillingly, have to take tuition classes as sometimes the puzzling textbooks are hard to follow, or the teachers are in a rush to finish the syllabus irrespective of whether the student understands the lesson or not. “Many times our teachers do not explain some chapters as they are in a hurry to finish their job. However, we are the ones who have to suffer,” said Sara Mansoor, a student in Al-Khobar, adding that she is now happy after having joined a private tutor's classes, where “we are given individual time and attention. However, the high charges of such services are an added expense for our parents,” she added. The general tuition fee per subject is SR400-SR500 if the classes are conducted for a group while that for an individual student can exceed SR800-SR1000. “My daughter, who is doing A-Levels, takes private tuition classes in Accounting and other business subjects. Her tutor charges SR1000 per subject, which is quite a lot. I am looking for someone who can teach two subjects for a sum of SR1000,” said Arsalan Shahid, another Pakistani parent. Tuition classes have also become a trend among students. In some cases, they seem to have taken on the role of a multi-vitamin tablet without which a student cannot survive. He may not trust his own capability to study and eventually becomes dependent on the tutors. Ultimately students do not learn much at school as they do not pay attention in class thinking their evening tuition classes are all that matter. In fact, some believe that students learn much more in evening tuition classes than they do at school. “When I was in class 11, I had great difficulty in studying physics as the teacher explained lessons in a monotonous manner that we had trouble comprehending. Because my classmates and I took tuition classes in the evening, we hardly paid any attention in class,” said Fatima Sajid, who did her schooling in Jeddah and is now studying at the Punjab University, Lahore. Mona Baig, a high school teacher, believes that private tuition classes can be done away with “if a school teacher is diligent and gives proper attention to each student, conducts frequent tests and revision, has sufficient expertise in his/her subject and, last but not the least, is paid adequately. This way the student will learn everything in the class.”
