Many parents today employ private tutors to teach their children after school hours. Is it a positive or negative development?
It is becoming increasingly common nowadays for children to take classes from private tutors after their school hours. Although there are some benefits of this practice, I would argue that there are far more drawbacks.
The main benefit of such tuition is for students who are slow learners. As most private tuitions involve one-to-one sessions, the tutor can tailor the lessons, in terms of their organization and pace, to the need of the student. This makes it possible for students to grasp the concepts they may not have been able to in the class. Not just this, even sharp students could benefit from such classes. While they may already understand what is being taught in class, private tuition can provide them with a competitive edge over other students.
Despite the positives mentioned above, I believe that such a form of tuition should be considered a negative development. Firstly, most school students are already overburdened with their studies, with school hours consuming most of their day time. Stacking private tuition over that only adds to the stress, which cannot be positive in the long term. It is, for instance, known to hinder both cognitive and social development in teenagers. Secondly, this overconsumption of time by studies leaves little time for them to spend on extracurricular activities such as sports or other hobbies. It would not be wrong to claim that this practice of private tuition, thus, represents a hindrance to their holistic Development.
In conclusion, while I recognize the possible advantages of private tuition post-school hours, I consider it to be a negative development overall.
