In ancient times, tutors were reserved for the elite. The children of royal families and of those with power had access to philosophers, writers, and sophists who served as tutors and passed on academic knowledge as well as knowledge about social norms and attitudes.
With the help of time and technology, tutors are no longer just for the wealthy. The system has been democratized and now populations around the world have access to individualized education. Online tutoring has been taken to hundreds of online platforms and is accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
But although this tutoring has become more accessible to people around the globe, each country and region has a different opinion and perspective about home tutoring.
In the European region, the Nordic countries like Norway and Sweden have very small demand for tutors in contrary to their neighbors to the south, both the UK and France spend significant amounts of money on private tuition.
In the Asian continent, Eastern Asians spend close to $1000 dollars on private tuition per month, while in India, the amount spent is significantly lower.
All over the world, tutoring is providing more and more children and young adults with the right supplemental instruction to help them reach their academic goals. The subjects that are taught by tutors around differ throughout different regions.
Test prep tutors, math tutors, language tutors, and other academic tutors have been able to provide students not only with homework help but with confidence that they will be able to achieve better grades and even feel more comfortable in a future learning environment.
Tutoring in Asia
Tuition in Asia is a lot higher than the levels we see in the US or in Europe. This can be traced to the general idea that most Asian cultures place heavy importance on academic success.
Education is a part of life that is greatly respected. Students devote close 12 hours a day on average to their studies. This average is one of the highest in the world.
The high importance placed on education means that private tutoring is also seen at higher levels in most Asian countries. For example, South Korea’s market for tutoring brings in earnings of $15 billion dollars a year. That is almost twice the amount of the market in the US.
In cities like Hong Kong, the market has even seen a rise in celebrity tutors. Celebrity tutors can be just as popular as pop-stars in some instances.
Their popularity has exploded because they market themselves as being able to predict the questions on standardized tests. Their commercials and propaganda state that they are the connection between students and top universities.
Some of these celebrity tutor agencies charge anywhere from $150 to $200 Hong Kong dollars per hour. Some of these tutors make up to $1 million dollars a year and are treated like true A-listers.
Most of the tutors of this magnitude teach in schools dubbed as "cram" schools. Cram schools are the tutoring centers that help students "cram" or study for university entrance exams.
Cram schools are very popular in East Asia and very different from the type of tutoring in the US.
Tutoring in Europe
Tutoring in Australia
In Australia, the tutoring business makes over $6 billion. Australians have caught on to the importance of one-on-one tutoring making the industry grow about 40% in the past five years.
Some people fear that the popularity of tutoring agencies and private tutors might be reflective of the lower performance of public school education.
The boom in tutoring might have to do with the changes in the national school curriculum. Australians schools are said to have become more challenging than in the past, therefore students are falling behind and are not capable of keeping up with the updated curriculums.
In addition, the growing population of students in public schools has also negatively affected the amount of time a teacher can spend with an individual student. The more students in the class, the less time a teacher can spend explaining a subject matter to the few students that might not understand.
Parents hope that tutors are able to fill this gap and that they can once again have personalized explanations and instruction.
Regardless some think that the growth in the tutoring business is due to the parents that are looking for their children to have more personal attention when it comes to academics.
Tutoring in the US
The ACT, SAT, and PSAT are some of the reasons why a lot of parents across the US choose to hire a tutor or have their students join a tutoring center.
Test preparation is very important before these standardized tests because they are used in college applications. The better the test score the better university you will have a chance of attending. SAT and ACT scores can also be used to apply to academic-based scholarships, making it even more important for students to do well during the exams.
The popularity of tutoring programs goes as follows:
- Exam preparation services (most popular)
- Primary school tutoring programs and courses
- Occupational and advanced academic programs (least popular)
Tutoring is also very popular in universities throughout the US. Most, if not all, university campuses have student tutoring services free of charge to those students enrolled in college classes.
Becoming a tutor for these tutoring services require that you show proficiency and excellence in the subject you would like to teach. Professors also donate some of their time to participate as facilitators in the free tutoring centers.
Wherever you are hiring a tutor from, be it Aisa, Europe, Australia or the US, your student bound to receive bountiful amounts of education and great guidance toward their academic goals in addition to many more benefits.
Before selecting a tutor to remember to read reviews, ask about their teaching style, and most importantly their qualifications.
Tutors are also an investment in your child's future, so although right now it might seem like an extra cost, in the long run, additional math tutoring or ACT tutoring can be the difference between getting into a dream university or a safety school.
Find a tutor right here on Superprof! As well as opportunities for tutoring jobs!
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