Private tutoring agency, Tutors International, today commented in response to recently published reports that may link Singapore’s excellent results in maths with educational support at home.
Leading provider of private tutors, Tutors International, today commented on the impact that parental involvement in education has on a child’s academic outcomes.
The comment comes off the back of a recent article about Singaporean parents returning to school to brush up on primary school mathematics, so that they can better help their children with homework and exams.[1]
Singapore comes out in first place in OECD’s list of global school rankings.[2] The analysis, based on test scores in maths and science in 76 countries - show the link between education and economic growth.
The UK scored 20th position in the league tables, and the US was placed in 28th position.
Mr Caller, who founded Tutors International in 1999, says, “In our experience placing hundreds of private tutors with children around the world, we can confidently say that the more engaged a parent is with their child’s learning, the better the educational outcomes for the child.”
“In the UK there tends to be the idea that it’s the job of the schools to provide a child’s education. The most successful students come from families where learning happens continually – in and out of school, from siblings and parents,” Mr Caller continued.
Tutors International understands the pressures that parents face to juggle work and family life. Mr Caller refers to a current job advertisement [3] on the Tutors International website – a family looking for after school support for their children. Helping with homework, ensuring the children have understood everything taught at school that day, and preparing them for the next day’s lessons has, until now, fallen to the mother. But now, says Mr Caller, the sheer quantity of homework and the advancing complexity of the work have left mum floundering. A qualified educator is being sought to maintain the students’ outstanding academic excellence.
Mr Caller stated, “It is quite common that even highly intelligent, educated parents will reach the limits of their ability to help their children with their homework. That’s where we are usually sought to provide full-time or after-school tuition, but we still involve parents in developing the child’s curriculum. That’s because parents know their children better than anyone – they know how to inspire them or when a change of tack is needed. Parents naturally employ this knowledge when engaging with their children, and at primary school age, this knowledge should be funnelled into continuous learning, outside of school, to motivate and encourage a life-long love of learning.”
“Not all schools have inspirational, fair, engaging teachers,” continued Mr Caller, “and we tend to find that if a child doesn’t like a particular teacher, they won’t enjoy that subject. That can influence the academic direction a child takes at a very early age. If teaching was left solely to the school, the likelihood of a child being inspired and engaged with all their subjects is very low. When parents pick up the baton of education, children usually have a greater breadth of knowledge, and a more inquiring mind.”
References:
[1] ‘'Back to school' for parents in Singapore’, Sarah Toms, 19 May 2015, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32791317
[2] ‘Asia tops biggest global school rankings’, Sean Coughlin, 13 May 2015, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32608772
[3] Milan (ref: MIL-0515), https://tutors-international.net/for_tutors/advert_details.php?jobno=401, last accessed 25 May 2015
