How Much Is Education Worth?

Experiences of private tutoring

First of all I`d like to say that as a private tutor for over 3 years I have had a variety of students a few of which I don`t think need private education. However with that statement comes with the opposite too.

Private tutoring can accomplish some of the following for students, they can build in confidence, receive the attention that they would otherwise not have received from their institution of study and have a set routine to study every week.

The reasons for having private tutoring may range from the very simple being parents do not know what to do to make sure their child achieves the grade; to increasingly complex reasons where experience is needed in entrance examinations and university applications. Other reasons may range from parents not being able to afford independent school or their child not being able to pass their examinations. However the main cause from my experiences is the simple fact of some teachers just cannot control their class and instead of spending the time going through quadratic equations spends it babysitting, as one may say.

However the question that arises from this is how much is education worth? Well I can give you a ball park figure. My education will cost me to be in debt of close to 100 grand. In contrast this may amount to 0 for some other people. Therefore it is very hard to put a price on education. Of course we can look at the demand and supply model take London for example, there is very high demand for private tuition and there are high overhead costs like transportation and living therefore prices will be inflated. Across the sea in Sweden where private tutoring can be a write off for tax well that would mean it would pay even higher. So prices can vary between demand, location and the cost of living, but I feel that the most important factor for prices is how well the tutor get along with the student. You can be the most amazing tutor and have the best results, but if you cannot build rapport with the tutee in question, he/she will not listen to you, will find lessons as more of a burden than enjoyment and not accomplish homework on time making tutoring a waste of money.

To conclude private tuition has grown rapidly over the last few years in London. Many parents feel that they have not done enough to help their child and are valuing tuition as a nessesity rather than commodity. Reasons for tuition are being more the plentiful nowadays which means good business for me. However the question remains, "How much is my child`s education worth?"