It is rather perplexing when one enters a shopping area and sees flyers pasted on walls and bulletin boards advertising private home tutors. The majority of the subjects advertised tend to be science-related followed by the teaching of Arabic and English.
The spread of adverts proves that the private tutoring business is thriving, with high school pupils — wanting higher GPAs — making up the majority of students taking the services of private tutors. Secondary grade pupils follow these, especially since the new GPA system was implemented. The problem has now spread with even college and university students being taught by private tutors.
Private tutoring is definitely something that has a negative effect on pupils, who become dependent on others, irresponsible and uninterested in attending school. They end up not attending classes and when they do, they quickly lose concentration. Their thoughts and attention revolve around the private tutor, who is seen as a savior who explains lessons and assists them to achieve the highest grades.
In fact, the blind trust and confidence in the private tutor’s skills encapsulates a pupil’s family, who ends up believing in the necessity of having tutors to ensure that their child excels in his or her education.
That is why these adverts must awaken us to the disaster that is waiting to happen. The Education Ministry must seriously take this issue into consideration by reviewing the curriculum, teachers and students, teaching methods, the environment in schools and even the type of chairs students sit on during classes.
These issues, among others, need to be somehow connected to changes in the modern world. We must stop whining and crying over the past. We must treat today’s pupils differently and not like those of previous times, who did not have that many distractions and temptations. Pupils of bygone days spent their spare time with their friends, playing football or watching limited channels on TV. Nowadays, youngsters have their own cars, cell phones and computers. They spend their time online, they have access to thousands of TV channels and visit restaurants and coffee shops.
We have to start interacting and communicating with pupils to understand why there are so many private tutors. Is it because of some sort of health problem? Is it because of some social, intellectual or mental problems? Or has it just become a trend that students brag about? Is there some sort of deficiency in the Kingdom’s educational process?
Our school pupils are undergoing a very critical stage that requires attention. They will not achieve success unless the private tutoring adverts disappear. These adverts need to disappear through an increased faith in schools and the educational system, not by the municipality’s street cleaners.
