Saudi Gazette report



AL-KHOBAR — Education experts have affirmed the need for licensing private tutors to ensure students are not being exploited, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported.



Private tutoring has become a widespread trend recently, especially due to the change in public schools curricula and the need of secondary students to pass evaluation exams before they can attend college.



The sector is witnessing a chaotic situation where even non-qualified individuals are offering private tutoring and promoting their services through flyers everywhere.



There are some, however, who see a need for private tutors as long as they are being regulated.



Private tutors should be licensed and allowed to practice tutoring in their specialization only, said the experts.



In addition, they said, there should be a maximum ceiling for tutorial fees as these are currently left to the discretion of the tutor and the family.



Some tutors currently are not qualified to teach some subjects, while some women who have barely completed their secondary education are also providing private tutoring, it was claimed.



Suad Abdulaziz said private tutoring has been offered in Saudi society for a long time.



She said: “Most of them were expatriates who have contributed to the education of our children and to the development of education in the country.



“Some of these teachers have turned to private tutoring to provide themselves with additional income.”



She added that many private tutors are seeking only financial returns and are not concerned with maintaining quality in their tutoring, necessitating the enactment of certain regulations to control this sector.



She pointed out that the lack of regulation in the private tutoring sector has resulted in high fees being charged.



Abdulaziz said: “Some tutors are earning more than their regular monthly salaries.



“These earnings, at times, exceed SR10,000 a month and may increase during final exam periods where tutors exploit students’ needs.”



Nariman Ibrahim said the problem is not limited to students of public schools, but also to those of private schools.



She said parents may pay SR25,000 to a private school for their child’s education and also seek the help of a private tutor paying additional money.



She said: “Some families may pay up to SR50,000 a year for a child's education and they face a huge problem when they have more than one child, thanks to the increased cost of living.”



Public education and private education should receive the same blame, she said.



"The emergence of private tutoring is the result of the deterioration of education in all schools in general," she said.



She believed that regulating the private tutoring sector would allow unemployed college graduates to utilize their education in a beneficial way.



“I also wonder why some families allow expatriate tutors to enter their house but not Saudis.”



Dr. Rashed Alabdulkareem, head of the Saudi Society for Educational and Psychological Sciences, said private tutoring has become a very profitable business.



He said: “Many unqualified individuals have ventured into this sector and are freely promoting their services through fliers that include their specialties and phone numbers.”



He believed that licensing private tutors could equate to an admission that schools are failing in their duties.

“The solution lies in understanding why we have to resort to private tutoring in the first place.”



Alabdulkareem called on the Ministry of Education to reevaluate the special lessons held at schools in the evening to tutor students.



“These special lessons have been enacted 25 years ago and should be reevaluated to suit current conditions.”

He believed that licensing private tutors might exacerbate the problem of why schools are not providing a good enough education.



Alabdulkareem said: "Licensing private tutors will only increase the dependence of students on tutors and becomes a way of life, instead of dealing with the origin of the problem."



He pointed out that the problem might be down to the pressure teachers face when teaching large numbers of students at a time, which does not allow for proper interaction between teachers and students.



"A large number of students also does not help them properly comprehend subjects, and results in the need for private tutoring," he said.



Teachers should be provided with the necessary educational means to better deal with students, in addition to providing students with solutions to help better understand subjects, he said.



“Only after all solutions fail should we consider licensing private tutors, and only in extreme cases.”