May 4, 2012

Vietnam - Giving private tutoring – the main bread earner for poor teachers


VietNamNet Bridge – In big cities, private tutoring can help teachers become millionaires. Meanwhile, in rural and remote areas, private tutoring is the main source of income for many teachers.

The information that the Ministry of Education and Training intends to tighten the control over the private tutoring has raised big worry for many teachers and parents. While parents emphasize that their children need to go to extra classes to be able to pass the university entrance exams, teachers say they need to give private tutoring lessons to earn money to cover their basic needs.

Going to private tutoring classes to prepare for exams

Minh Dang, a student of the HCM City Transport University, has affirmed that he could pass the university entrance exams because he went to mathematics, physics and chemistry majoring private tutoring classes.

“In my village, there are no exam preparation centers, and there is no Internet for us to look for materials,” Dang explained. “Meanwhile, the lessons at school can only provide basic knowledge, just enough to serve the high school final exam. If we do not go to extra classes, we would not be able to practice with complicated questions which cannot be found in official textbooks.”

Agreeing with Dang, Hoang Tram, a 12th grader in Long Thanh district of Dong Nai province, also said she has to go to literature, physics and English classes to prepare for the university entrance exams, the most important exams in the life of every Vietnamese student.

“I do not want to learn with my teachers, but I try to choose the classes run by famous and qualified teachers,” she said. “Meanwhile, my friends from other schools go to the classes run by my school teachers, because they want to get familiar with different types of exam questions.”

“Passing the university entrance exams is our most important goal,” she added.

Especially, the parents also force their children who are the students of primary schools to go to private tutoring classes as well. There are many subjects the children need to practice. Nursery school children have to practice writing to prepare for the first grade, while primary school students need to practice writing and foreign language skills.

Bich Nga, a parent in district 1, said that she cannot teach the child herself, because the girl does not want to practice writing and do mathematics questions at home. Therefore, Nga decided to send the child to a private tutoring class, where she is prepared well for entering general schools.

How can teachers earn their living without private tutoring?

“I am jealous with the teachers who can give private tutoring,” said Thu Hien, a teacher of a secondary school in Lam Dong province. Being a literature teacher, Hien cannot open private tutoring class, because of the low demand for the literature lessons.

As a result, Hien has to take any other jobs she can find to earn extra money: she types documents and edits essays as a part time job. Hien, though having the service length of 10 years, can earn 3 million dong a month only in total. The sum of money is just enough to feed herself only.

“Teachers cannot live on salaries. Therefore, all of use have to take extra jobs to take extra money,” she said, adding that if the monthly salary is high enough, no one would be foolish enough to spend their free time on private tutoring classes.

“How can live with the monthly modest salary if we do not give private tutoring hours?” said Phuong Linh from a secondary school in HCM City. She gets 3.2 million dong a month from the teaching at school, and she earns 500,000 dong from tutoring two students.

The monthly income of 3.7 million dong a month is just enough to cover basic needs. The room rent alone costs her 1 million dong a month.

Source: Dat Viet



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