Kavita is a primary school teacher in a small town in South India. She told me, "At present education is the most profitable business opportunity in this country. The second best opportunity is, of course, health service. Only the old fashioned ignorant people still cling on to the ancient idea that education is a noble national and social service that creates builders of the future. Drop a few western names in your flashy ads, ridicule all the exiting methods as stupid, scream that your new method is the one that is going to change the world instantaneously, hire a few people that speak fluent English and market your school to the parents of young children. And you make truckloads of money."
I said, "And these parents who want their children to become westernized Indians will happily pay you in thousands a month in order to make their children talk, walk, laugh and sleep like an English man, and forget their national treasure - the spiritual values. But what is your point? Do you want to fight against the system?"
Kavita said with a broad smile, "No. I just want to improve my financial position. Even though the school I am working in collects fat fees, they pay the teachers low salary. It is not always possible to negotiate with the management for better terms or change jobs. So, for teachers like me, the only way to increase income is to offer private tuition classes to the school children." I agreed with her.
"Yes. Even for educated unemployed housewives, this route will prove to be profitable."
"Many parents send their children to tuition classes because they don't want the kids to sit at home, watch TV and create trouble. They are willing to pay only very low fees. Tuition teachers accommodate such parents and admit dozens of students to earn more. At the end of the day, there is no real gain to anyone. I don't want to be another mediocre tuition teacher. I would like to take in only a limited number of students, teach them the subjects well, and earn well," said Kavita.
I told her, "I appreciate your attitude. With the help of your computer, you can achieve your goals. You already know the attitudes of the parents. They want their children to be good in all subjects. I'll tell you how you can make the kids learn well. Students learn pronunciations of words and accent from their teachers. If a teacher makes a mistake, the student will carry the mistakes through his life. There are ways to teach them without a mistake. If you search the web you can find text-to-speech software programs. Some versions of Microsoft Windows come bundled with this feature. Type the contents of the text book into a Word document and then run this text-to-speech program to read the document aloud. You will know how to pronounce each word and your students will be benefited from your knowledge. Please don't assume that you know how to pronounce well. Even scholars make silly mistake."
"That's a good idea," said Kavita.
"Teaching the entire text books should be done by the teachers at the school. A tuition teacher has limited time. So, you must learn to teach the essence of the lessons quickly. Flash Card study software programs help you repeat the key points of the lessons at spaced intervals. When you use multi-sensory approach that include audio and video, and spaced repetition technique, even a dull student will become bright in a matter of a few days. You can use the flash cards for science, history, geography and other text-intensive subjects. Then there are math worksheet generation software programs. After assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each of your students, you can generate customized math worksheets and help them set right their weak spots. You can use student assessment software programs to prepare a monthly report of progress for each student and present it to the parents. Any reasonable parent will certainly understand the value added service you provide and will not hesitate to pay premium for it," I told Kavita.
Then she worked hard for a few months.
Kavita wrote to me after six months: 'When I asked for Rs.500 a kid, parents resisted it arguing that others charge just Rs. 200. Within a few weeks, things changed. I teach only 10 students and earn Rs.5,000 a month. But it is not an easy work. It demands a lot of time and energy. My school pays me Rs.3,000 a month towards salary. I am planning to quit my job soon and become a full-time self-employed tuition teacher."