5th October 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Every Thursday primary school student John McDonald travels to a tuition centre in Lisburn for 80 minutes of lessons to help him with his entry exams for grammar schools. His mother, Ann, says that he struggles with maths, and that £26 a lesson is a small price to pay to increase his chances of attending a good school.
The BBC spoke to Martin Rimmer who runs the tuition centre attended by John. Rimmer says that he feels he is providing a real benefit to the children in his classes. Not least when he focuses on the technique needed to succeed in the grammar schools tests (AQE and GL). The number of students requesting this ‘transfer tuition’ have apparently risen significantly since the old entrance exams were abolished nearly 10 years ago. The programme students follow is to receive an initial assessment in English and Maths, so that the centre understand in which areas a student needs help.
Martin Rimmer claims that parents should look to enrol their child in a recognised tuition centre, and expressed his concern that a large amount of tutoring is done by private tutors, paid in cash and not declaring the amount earnt. He bemoans a lack of regulation in the tuition industry, and says that the result is many tutors teach students when they really shouldn’t.
The BBC did a quick straw poll, and found a large number of individuals advertising their services online. The prices quoted tend to be in the £15-20 bracket, and there’s not necessarily any information to justify the prices the tutors are charging. In one case they found an A Level student advertising his services to teach entrance exams for £10 an hour. While this may appear wrong to some, it highlights the lack of regulation; there’s nothing to say that this A Level student is any worse for students than Martin Rimmer.
A Spokesperson from the body awarding the GL tests said that there is general concern regarding the amount of tuition taking place. He said that education should not feel like a chore for students, and there is a danger of this as parents push their children into extra classes, however good the intentions.