Private tuition has its place, but only after careful consideration

A reader recently told me about her neighbour's daughter, who is in grade six at an international school.

One day the girl's maths teacher asked students if they attended the Kumon or Enopi programmes after school. Most did, but all the teacher did was to tell the others they would have to catch up. The reader was rightly appalled.

Research by University of Hong Kong Professor Mark Bray on students' increasing reliance on tuition in Asia has energised the debate on whether tutorial schools are a necessary evil.

In my experience, parents are too quick to send their children to tutors. Their reasons for doing so vary. For some parents, it's because their child's friends are tutored; others feel they are depriving their children of the chance to succeed if they don't receive tutoring. Some parents do it out of guilt because they are unable to personally supervise the children's progress.

I would like to reassure parents of children who are falling behind that success without tutoring is possible. Start by figuring out whether the lack of success is due to poor study habits or weak cognitive skills.

Tanya Mitchell, a brain training expert, attributes many learning issues to the latter. These mental tools (including memory, attention, reasoning and visual and auditory processing) contribute to overall IQ, she says. If you suspect your child's failing grades can be attributed to cognitive weakness, then the priority is to address those issues, not seek tutors.