5 things to note before hiring a private tutor

So you've decided that you will hire a private tutor for your child. What do you need to consider or decide, when hiring a tutor? Here's our quick 5-step guide:

1) What's your budget?

Consider a budget that's acceptable to yourself. This amount affects the kind of tutor you can engage, and the amount of tuition time you can have. As such, it is important to figure this out early.

Just to give a sense of the rates in the market, for a PSLE class of 1.5 to 2 hr long
– A group tuition class at a top learning centre can cost $100 per class
– A private 1-to-1 tuition with a current school teacher can cost $75 to $100 per class
– A private 1-to-1 tuition with a University student tutor can cost $30 to $50 per class

2) What kind of tutor do you want?

In the market, there are many types of tutors, with different qualifications, experience, charges. It's perhaps easier to consider them in 3 big categories
i. Current MOE teachers (or ex-MOE teachers, retired teachers)
ii. Full-Time private tutors (no formal training in NIE)
iii. Current University or Polytechnic student tutors

3) How much tuition time do you want?

Specifically, how many lessons per week, and, the duration of each lesson.

Generally you should consider the following 3 things before deciding how much tuition you want
– The subjects he requires help in
– Your child's commitments (like school supplementary, enrichment classes like swimming or sports)
– Your child's attention span

A common arrangement is to have a 1.5 hr or 2 hr lesson, for 1 lesson per week. If you want the tuition to cover 2 subjects or more, you can opt for 2 lessons per week. More intensive classes nearing the finals, 3 lessons is possible too.

If your child's attention span is short, especially for Nursery, Kindergarten or Lower Primary school children, you can start off with 1 hour lessons first, before increasing later on.

4) What's your expectation of the tuition?

Is it to go through homework, help with spelling? Or is your child already coping and you want the tutor to teach in advance, or go through specific areas like creative writing or open-ended questions?

When you are clear about your expectations of the tuition class, it's much easier for you to set the right expectations with the tutor when discussing about how the lesson should be structured. Honest sharing helps the tutors conduct the classes effectively.

5) Any particular requirement that you want to state upfront?

Experienced and patient are definitely prerequisites of a tuition teacher. But apart from these, are there specific requirements? For e.g. do you need a tutor with experience teaching children with learning needs? Or perhaps you want someone who not afraid to be firm and fierce with the child?

To avoid being blindsided by the various possibilities, consider your expectations, your needs and your budget. If you are quite clear about these 3 points, you should be able to evaluate the myraid options available in the market and select the best possible tutor for your child.

Good luck!

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