Unpopular opinion: Online tuition in S’pore is not at all a waste of money — in fact, it’s the future

If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it is that we will have to adapt to a new normal in a post-pandemic world we still haven’t emerged into yet.

Companies are learning to telecommute, and F&B businesses are getting on delivery services — all in a bid to reduce contact between people.

As with many other industries, the multibillion dollar tuition sector is evolving, and moving online.

Using video conferencing, interactive screen-sharing technologies and small classes, there exist tuition centres and services that have been able to quite effectively replicate the in-person tuition experience — arguably, in some instances, even with added benefits.

For the added benefit of younger students with shorter screen attention span, lessons are also kept shorter (an hour or so usually) and so time is more effectively used than in a physical classroom, for instance, where the majority of a class time is spent, well, doing work.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The thing is, many parents assume online classes (more popularly defined as home-based learning) are not as useful or helpful to their children, or conducive to learning, and are therefore not worth the money they would otherwise be willing to spend on in-person tuition.

If you’re a parent who holds this view, here are three good reasons for you to reconsider your position:

1. Online tuition is safer.

At the moment, with Singapore still being in the middle of the pandemic, the government has yet to allow tuition centres to reopen — and for good reason; imagine sending your children to a centre with more than 10 other students and a tutor passing droplets among one another over a 90-minute period (or more).

Sure, you get the tutor’s undivided attention in the flesh — but you also get his droplets when he addresses the class, which is not ideal. By the way, know that masks and safe distancing don’t provide completely foolproof protection either.

But guess what definitely does: not being in the same place as one’s classmates and tuition teacher. Perhaps one of the most pertinent benefits of online tuition right now is that it completely eliminates the risk of virus transmission (from there, at least).

And here’s another great thing about taking tuition online: you don’t have to waste time (or money) travelling between home, school and/or the tuition centre or the tutor’s home.

With just a few clicks, you can start your online lesson in the comfort of your own home. Heck, you can even attend classes in your boxers and no one will be any the wiser.

Let’s say a trip to and from the tuition centre for weekly tuition classes takes about an hour. In one month, you’ll save four hours.

This is four hours that you can better spend on leisure activities like binge-watching an entire series on Netlfix or, if you’re a parent reading this, meaningfully, like on homework.

2. Online tuition compels more engagement from pupils.

And it doesn’t mean that online tuition classes fare worse in terms of teaching quality.

Smaller classes mean tutors have better visibility and focus on the students in the class, and can ensure every student is engaged and paying attention — because of the active assignment sessions or tools the tutor may employ.

Technologies offered by various tuition services permit tutors to employ a host of tools like slides, simulations, videos, and e-worksheets.  

Some programmes even make use of snazzy AR-enabled worksheets, like this one below which showcases the anatomy of a heart) to keep students engaged.

Apart from this, there are programmes that allow kids to engage in simultaneous hands-on activities during their lessons, so that students can participate in open discussions and group work with one another.

There even exist holistic learning management systems that mark, grade and profile pupils based on their understanding of the subject topic taught. Tutors are then able to do adaptive assessment, by using this data to design more customised material for their classes.  

Aside from being more efficient, you can also rest assured that your children are actually doing work that you can review electronically.

3. Online tuition is ultimately cheaper.

We all know tuition can burn a hole in parents’ pockets.

The market rates even for classes these days range between S$160 and S$420 per month. Aside from taking out a big chunk of a family’s household’s income, this exorbitant rate prices out families who don’t earn as much and whose children may still need the additional help. 

On the other hand, online tuition doesn’t cost as much.  

Local live lessons and edu-solutions service provider PAL Learning, for instance, charges S$99, per subject per month, four lessons each, with the goal of making education affordable to all parents. 

With 35 programmes available, it serves Primary one to six students in English, Mathematics and Science, in both standard and foundation streams. PAL Learning also caters to high achieving students with dedicated writing, math problem sums, and science programmes that will challenge them

PAL Learning caps its classes at five students to a teacher. It also keeps its lessons to one hour and 15 minutes each, for optimal learning.

Does lower price mean lower quality? Hopefully not for PAL, who hires NIE-trained and experienced tutors to conduct its classes. These tutors also offer an optional added service — called Homework Support — where they help students who have issues with their homework. Homework Support is available on weekdays and Saturdays from 5 to 10pm.

It also teamed up with tech companies like Huawei and Samsung, as well as mobile company TPG Mobile, to offer tablets, laptops and 50GB SIM cards with every sign up for its tuition classes. These devices are either loaned out for short term sign-ups or gifted for long-term ones.

In addition to these devices, every child will also receive a Microsoft 365 student account.

There are also family bundles available - which comes as good news for families who intend to enrol more than one child in PAL Learning’s classes.

For more information on PAL Learning, you can head over to its website here.

Writing this sponsored piece by PAL Learning brought back many memories of this writer’s own tuition classes when he was younger.