Tutors International welcomes the call for increased opportunities for talented students, but questions the practicalities of recent proposals.
Tutors International, global provider of exceptional private tutors, welcomes the call for increased opportunities for talented students, but believes there are more cost-effective solutions.
Following calls for education secretary Nicky Morgan to open a number of highly-academic schools for gifted state students [1], questions remain to be raised regarding the financial practicalities of such a move and what the selection process would entail.
Adam Caller, who founded Tutors International in 1999, said of the proposal: “More provision needs to be made for high-performing students in our state schools. However, we need to seriously consider how to go about determining who gets a place in these proposed new schools. In some schools, as part of the current ‘Gifted and Talented’ program, the top 20 students are automatically put forward. Unless there is a way to accurately differentiate the highly able from the rest in the state sector, they just won’t get the same exposure to opportunity afforded to children in the private sector.”
Key advantages to the proposed new system, put forward by former Government advisor, James Frayne [2], include a broad curriculum and an intake of just 60 students per year. Such an undertaking, however, would require considerable time and investment in new resources that are already available elsewhere. There are also concerns that such a move would pull education back in the direction of the old grammar school system.
Mr Caller commented: “Rather than building new schools, a more cost effective option would be to sponsor places for the highest achievers at private schools that already have the necessary resources and experience or, better still, match them with a private tutor to nurture their individual needs and talents outside of the classroom. Regardless of ability, we know that not all students are able to perform at their best in a traditional classroom environment. Increased one-to-one attention and the ability to learn at their own pace, according to their own interests, has the potential to bring out the best of their abilities.”
Tutors International has placed tutors with students of all abilities, with some spectacular results, seeing tutored students repeatedly place in some of the top universities in the world. Some of these students have been tutored part-time, alongside their conventional classroom studies, and others have excelled in full-time home schooling.
For more information on the services offered by Tutors International and for advice on home schooling, wherever you are in the world, visit tutors-international.com. Tutors can browse the latest vacancies and submit an application by visiting Job vacancies.
References
[1] Open super-selective schools to extend elite education into state sector, says former Gove adviser. https://schoolsweek.co.uk/open-super-selective-schools-to-extend-elite-education-into-state-sector-says-former-gove-adviser/ Freddie Whittaker. Schools Week. January 2016
[2] https://www.totalpolitics.com/opinion/454901/lets-roll-out-elitism-in-education-so-poor-children-benefit-too.thtml, James Frayne, Total Politics, Let’s roll out elitism in education so poor children benefit too, 4 January 2016
