Private tutoring from Montreal to Beijing
My friend Cheryl wakes up every morning at 5:30 am (Montreal time) so that she can teach her first online English class at 6:30 am.
Her students are all way across the globe, in China. There is a 12-hour time difference with Beijing. For her students it is 6:30 pm.
Cheryl is already booked every hour that she is willing to teach through two organizations: Q-kids and VIP Kids (affiliate link). She can choose the hours and days she wants to teach and she teaches from the living room in her apartment.
Many of her students, ages 5 to 12, are learning to read in English and some of them are getting ready for the Gaokao exam.
The Gaokao (高考) test is a prerequisite for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the undergraduate level.
I find it surprising that some of these Chinese kids, at age 5 are already learning to read English. I didn’t know how to read English at that age.
Cheryl William
In the U.S., students take the SAT for college credits and ACT for college entrance. The higher the score, the higher the probability of getting into a top-ranking school.
Private tutoring is a multi-million dollar industry
The main reason for the popularity of the private tutoring industry is the competition to get into a top-level school. It’s considered that if you graduate from one of these top-level universities, you are practically guaranteed to get a high starting salary from many employers, plus the prestige of being alumni from any of these schools will open many social doors.
Having your kids going to Harvard, the ultimate status symbol
Many parents, in addition to having the best wishes for their children, they also relish on the status symbol of having one of their kids going to a prestigious university. In a world where anyone with money can have the big house, the fancy car and the Apple watch, the next symbol of superiority is to have your kid going to ivy school, for that it also takes influence and some level of intellectual superiority.
To give you an idea of the competitiveness of getting into an ivy league school, these are the acceptance rate of the top universities.
| Harvard | 4.7% |
| Standford | 4.4% |
| Yale | 6.3% |
| Princeton | 5.5% |
It also takes a lot of money to go to one of these top-level schools. According to Harvard’s website, tuition costs for the 2019-2020 school year total $47,730, fees are $4,195, and room and board costs $17,682 for a subtotal of billed costs of $69,607
Parents are willing to commit felonies in order to get their kids into top-ranking schools
With the acceptance rate so low, some families try to use money and influence to break the rules and to make sure their kids get into one of these schools. Last year, actress Felicity Huffman paid $15,000 to have her daughter’s SAT score inflated. Actress Lori Loughlin paid $500,000 in order to pass off their two daughters as rowing athletes.
Private tutoring is robbing kids of their infancy
Kids don’t have time to be kids any more. They are taking language classes, some kind of musical instrument classes, and some kind of competitive sport.
When their time is too structured, and their agenda completely filled up, they are being robbed of their childhood. They don’t have time for self discovery and experimentation. All this scheduled time could bring stress in their current years, or resentment in their future years.
Private tutoring is increasing income inequality
Of course you want to the best for you child and you are willing to pay for it, so you get the best tutoring service you can afford.
Assuming you achieve your goal of giving your kid an advantage against kids who can’t afford a tutor. It will be your child who will get accepted to that top-level university, it will be your child who will get that top paying job and it will be your child who will find another highly educated, high earning mate (assortative mating).
On the other hand, kids who can’t afford a tutor will be at an academic disadvantage, will probably not be able to get into a top-level school, and probably will not get the top-level employment position, and probably will marry someone with a similar socio-economic background, and thus have a harder time narrowing the wealth gap.
Private tutoring and COVID-19
COVID-19 has proven to be a game-changer in the private tutoring business. Many families are afraid to send their children to school and thus the only solution is to home school them.
The child could catch the disease by interacting and playing with other kids. As if that is not bad enough, the child could become a carrier of the disease, and become a spreader within the family. Maybe the child will not get sick, but if he brings the disease home and infects grandma, who is not in great health, the results could be catastrophic.
Of course, many parents don’t have the time, patience, or expertise to home school their own children, so they have to hire a private tutor, and thus, the demand for private tutoring continues to increase.
What does it take to be a tutor
For my friend Cheryl, she had to prove that she was a native English speaker, that she has a college education, and that she has an ESL teaching certificate. But most tutors don’t need to earn any tutoring certificate and they don’t get any special training as tutors. If you need guidance on becoming an English tutor, feel free to contact Cheryl and ask her for tips.
Most tutors don’t have any formal training. They start tutoring when they are in college themselves, they start tutoring students in lower-level classes, they answer job postings on bulletin boards or offer their services in bulletin boards, until they develop a clientele and expertise.
How much money does a tutor earn
Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Private Tutor job market in both Montreal, CA and the surrounding area is very active. People working as a Private Tutor in Montreal are making on average $21 per hour while the national average hourly salary is $22.
If you want to become a tutor in any subject, Outschool is always hiring and they offer payment as high as $50/hour, depending on your subject of expertise.
Would you get a tutor for your kids?
It’s a competitive world out there. From grade 9, many parents are already paying tutors to increase their kid’s grade, so that they have a better chance getting into the top level school.
Even if you don’t want to participate in this rat race, you are practically forced into it.
Knowing what you know now, would pay for a couple of hours of tutoring per week? Please let me know in the comments below.
Comments from the readers
Kelly Bron Johnson from Completely Inclusive:
I’m homeschooling, but we don’t pay for private tutoring. We get free tutoring through Learn QC (all children in QC are able to use their services) and we use Outschool.
We paid an ex-Principal who runs online homeschooling support. This provided us with a simplified outline of the curriculum, 1 project/week for the kids (that we do with them) and 1 Zoom call/week. It’s not tutoring – more help with the structure of ensuring curriculum is met. We have to supplement the rest and are the ones who are legally responsible for ensuring the curriculum is met.
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