All About Market Rates of Private Tutors

[vinegar]

The agent told me that she is teaching in New Town Primary school,when i chk,there is no such teacher.When I asked the agent,she said she might hv quit.


I asked the agent to get her to bring her certificates on the 1st day,she didn’t bring,claimed that she is in the mid of shifting to new home,misplaced her cert.

[iLoveChubby]

Hi vinegar

From what you have described, i seriously doubt the credentials of this teacher.
Really thk you shd check her certs and some kind of proof that she was indeed an ex-teacher before for a couple of years.
Grab any assessment book and ask your son to do?... Seriously?... I thk we mummies can do that for FREE since answer sheets are readily available!!

Better ask your frens for recommendations for a more reliable and proven good tutor.

[vinegar]

hi ilovechubby,

ya, u r right.I can also do the same for my son.Grab the assessment books to teach him.However,the agent told me it is like that. In fact, there was a tutor asked me to get all the assessment books ready before she came.Agent said she is good,coz not all tutor makes sure the parents hv assessment book ready b4 the tutor comes.

Pls give me ur POV,

[vinegar]

Does the tutor bring their own teaching materials? Do we parents hv to make sure all the assessment books r ready?pls share wf me what kinda teaching material they use?

[Lynn2010]

Hi Vinegar, how many lessons have your son had?


I dislike teachers asking student to copy composition. I know there are school teacher or enrichment doing that. Did the tutor teach "how to write a good compo"?

Ask the tutor what she thinks of your son. What is her plan to help him?

Honestly, i’ll sack her. Not all school teachers are good and of course you have good ones. You just have to observe yourself.

I had this one, a current school teacher. Apparently English teacher but full mouthful of Singlish. Her teaching is fine but she will come for lessons, talk and talk but doesnt give much work. She will only give work on the spot. First few lessons, keep on smsing or twitter i dont know. I can hear the ‘tring tring’ sound the whole lesson. After about 2 lessons, i cant take it anymore and i told her i dislike it.

Next, she is a clock watcher. She will blah blah blah… and half way through a sentence, she will say "time’s up". Then pack in less than 30 sec and out she goes. She is always late. We had only about 6 to 8 lessons. She already using our fridge (that is put things in there), which is fine. Using our microwave to warm up things before leaving for her party. Owing 5 minutes or 10 minutes each lesson. Borrowing umbrellas but never return. 4 of my umbrellas are still with her. Tragic!!

Of course I have more good school teachers tutoring my kids than bad ones.

As far as i know, a current primary sch teacher commands $50 to $60 per hour. Ex sch teacher may be $40 to $50. Apparently sch teachers who teach in one of the top schools command a higher rate than neighbourhood school.

Hope this helps.

[vinegar]

hi Lynn,

Thanks for sharing ur experience! haha,ur english tutor sound very funny.I can’t imagine a tutor uses my fridge or microwave.Afterall,their focus is come to teach.I assume she is a young teacher??
I always ask her for feedback.She criticized my son,said he is stubborn,slow,not independent enough,as compared her nephew who is in the same school as my son.A bit ya ya ,right? She always very rushing…coz she has a tuition centre to run or nid to rush to give tuition later.So she didn’t hv time to discuss.
last wk,she msg me at 2pm n said she couldn’t come coz she was sick.The tuition suppose to start at 2:30pm.I rushed my son to finish lunch n bath,then she told me so last minute that she couldn’t make it.

Till now,she has given 3 lessons.She always goes off on the dot.

Now,I realise why she always holds her handbag(putting it on her laps) whenever she gives tuition to my son.I asked her to leave it on the chair given to her,but she was still holding it.She could be checking her h/phone while coaching my son.She also chk the desk calender which we indicated our events.

[iLoveChubby]

Hi vinegar

Frankly I dont see anything in her that you shd be keeping her... No structured planning+bad attitude+leave-on-the-dot+yaya-papaya+\"Is she really an ex-teacher??\"+expensive!.. :nunchuk:

Sorry I couldnt provide any constructive feedback as I send my kids to group tuition so i m not too sure how private tutors normally work.
However personally I thk enrichment centres have better planning and structured materials. But of course all these still need a passionate and dedicated teacher who is able to deliver during the lessons.
I also find that group tuition has somewhat pushed my kids to be more \"competitive\" and wanting to do better than their classmates.

[Just relax]

I think private tutors who give 1-1 tuition have a place provided they are organized, up to date on latest syllabus and will give feedback on regular basis. Otherwise stick to group tuition or tuition centres who offer 1-1 tuition at their centre.

[Lynn2010]

There are private tutors who are quite structured and customised the needs of the student. Whether group or individual - i think it depends on the student need. For example, my dd only need compre and compo coaching. Not all tuition centres are good. I used to teach in tuition centre, they leave it to the teacher to plan.


Some tutors will zoom in to the students’ weaknesses. Most of the FT tutor has to leave on the dot as they are packed with students the whole day.

Basically FT or PT tutor, most importantly they have the passion. I was hesitant when i hired our violin tutor who is a PT. He is so passionate that an hour lesson can stretch to almost 2 hr most of the time and I have to "hint" that my dd has a lot of homework to complete. He has only one student for the evening, so he can afford the time. Comparing him to another FT violin tutor before him. Wow… he was really punctual - starting and ending the lesson. So parents, if you have a FT tutor, they just have to go on the dot. Even if your child is the last student of the day, they would be very tired by then too.

[Mdm Koh]

Hi vinegar,


I think you should check the credentials of the so-called ex-teacher from New Town Primary. Tuition agencies will normally ask us to bring our certs or photocopies of our certs at the first lesson, whether or not the parent requests to see them. The fact that the tuition agent told you that there’s no need to check is not in line with common practices in the industry.