Choosing a good tuition teacher for home tuition

This topic has been addressed by many others before, but I thought I give my point of view. For many Singaporeans, tuition has become an almost standard way of growing up. Like many of my peers, my younger days were filled with trips to the many tuition centers which my mum has rigorously signed me up for, as well as attending home tuition with different tuition teachers. Looking back, the ones which I found beneficial to my study were usually the ones who are trained teachers.

For the un-trained tutors, many of them were actually trying their best to teach, but they lack the know-how to teach a child to score in the examinations. The teachers know exactly what words to use, and how I could score in my examinations, while those full-time tutors who I had were just imparting knowledge.

There are many tuition agencies which promise to be able to find MOE current or ex-school teachers but it is unclear how many of them could actually deliver this promise. The main issue is the supply of teachers. Although there are about 39,900 teachers as stipulated in the MOE Establishment List*, few teachers could actually spare the time to teach tuition due to heavy school commitment. Of those who could spare the time for home tuition or group tuition, the number of tuitions that they wish to take is on average 1-2 tuitions per week. Also due to their busy schedule, MOE teachers do not have time to register their particulars with generic tuition agencies, and very often feel that it is against their privacy to list their particulars to be shared with the open internet.

The best way is by word of mouth. If you have a neighbour or friend who has hired a current or ex-school teacher as a tutor, then enquire from them if the tutor is free to accept your child. Otherwise, the next best option would be to seek out tuition agencies which specialize in MOE tutors to search for you.

As of today, Schtutors Tuition Agency is the only tuition agency in Singapore that recommends only MOE current and ex-school teachers for home tuition. If you would like Schtutors to find a MOE teacher for you, go to Schtutors Home Page to submit your request.

Thanks and I hope the above is helpful,
Shawn
Lead Coordinator (Schtutors Team)

* - Figures quoted from MOE Expenditure Estimates 2013