Private tuition, known globally as shadow education, is a phenomenon worth looking into. Research from the Australian Tutoring Association (ATA) has shown that private tuition is increasingly prevalent in Australia, yet, it is a phenomenon that has had very little attention paid to it. Private tuition is also a growing sector of the education and training industry prompting a move by educators into this field in a response to the growing demand.

Parents hire private tutors for various reasons such as enrichment, remediation and examination preparation. Increasingly, parents are finding that private tuition provides their children with opportunities that improve overall learning such as: supporting the individual needs of each student, enhancing exam preparation techniques, increasing confidence, challenging students to work to their abilities and providing the building blocks to bridge any gaps that students come across in mainstream schooling.

Mohan Dhall the CEO of the ATA recently stated that, ‘in [his] view the best way to deal with the growth of private tutoring is to first recognise it and then create a dialogue between the mainstream educational sector, the private tutoring centres (via their peak body) and parents in order to better understand what is driving the growth and how all the parties can work together in the interests of students’.

Here at My Academy, we frequently collaborate with schools and teachers when parents are happy for us to do so. We have found this to be a step in the right direction to ensure that students are being supported in all aspects of their learning. For example, if a child does not understand concepts at school, we are able to work through these areas at the student’s pace, to ensure they develop confidence and can progress in all their learning areas.

Rachel Hayes