In his recent article “In a Class of Their Own” Yisroel Besser highlighted the advantages of private tutoring for struggling or gifted students who experience “a boring day in school.” He alluded to children who have learning disabilities or ADHD who do indeed need individual outside attention. But he spoke mainly about children who at present are in mixed-ability classes and need extra outside tutoring.
I would like to suggest a different approach for dealing with mixed-ability classes. Undoubtedly the tutors the writer referred to are charismatic and very knowledgeable. When a child has a tutor of this caliber his school rebbi will automatically be relegated to second fiddle in the child’s mind and often in his parents’ minds as well. Before long the rebbi becomes irrelevant.
The article also refers to the financial burden of tutoring. Even with some reductions parents pay tuition anywhere from $3 000 to $13 000 per annum depending on the grade level. Add to that a tutor’s fee of between $50 and $100 an hour (with no reductions) which can amount to an additional $6 000 per year!
As Rabbi Mashinsky said in the article: “Parents can barely make their regular tuition payments and the institutions have tremendous difficulty covering their operating budgets.” The answer suggested is that philanthropists should invest in remedial programs. A good idea!
