We are all used to perceiving school as a place where children should acquire knowledge and prepare for the future. But what to do when the school no longer fulfills this function? When every second high school student, instead of relying on school lessons, seeks salvation from tutors?
Modern education is on the brink of an abyss: teachers are losing authority, students are losing interest in learning, and school programs are no longer able to provide what is needed for successful admission to higher education institutions. How did it happen that school education no longer guarantees knowledge, but only creates additional stress? Why did tutoring become not a choice, but a necessity for future applicants?
Tutoring as a new reality
Despite the reforms of the Ministry of Education and Culture, modern Ukrainian education is experiencing a crisis that has long been obvious to students, parents and teachers. The school, which should be the foundation for the future generation, is rapidly losing its role, finding itself in the shadow of private lessons with tutors. And this is no longer about special cases or preparation for the Olympics — it is a mass phenomenon that affects almost every high school student.
For data According to the sociological study “Reform of specialized secondary education”, conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 50% of students in grades 10-11 use the services of tutors to improve the quality of their knowledge. 43% of respondents noted that the need for additional classes is caused by the fact that studying at school is not enough for successful admission to educational institutions. 7% of the respondents work with tutors because their parents consider school education to be of poor quality.
The mass transition to tutoring became a certain sentence for school education. Teachers, overwhelmed by large classes, insufficient material base and bureaucracy, are often unable to provide quality education to all students. To this should be added low-quality distance education in the conditions of war. As a result, a student who did not have time to learn the material in class or who wants to get higher scores on the external examination/NMT is forced to look for alternative ways of learning. Tutors became such an alternative.
Private lessons have become the norm—even for those who do well in school. Tutoring ceased to be a tool for “pulling up weak students” and turned into a guarantor for everyone who wants to secure a decent future. The question arises: why do parents and children no longer trust the school?
One of the main reasons why high school students turn to tutors is the low quality of teaching in schools. Teachers are forced to work according to outdated programs, some of which do not correspond to modern realities. The lack of an individual approach, inefficient teaching methods and an excessive amount of material that is presented formally turn learning into a boring routine.
A full-scale invasion had a significant impact on the state of education. A large number of teachers went abroad to escape the war. Currently, such a situation has developed that teachers who remained working in education are leaving the profession en masse, trapped in the vices of paper routine, excessive demands, oppressive responsibility and low wages. There are currently 1,371 vacancies in one capital city alone. In the villages, the situation is much more complicated and there is a catastrophic shortage of teachers. There, one teacher is forced to conduct classes not only on his subject, but also on those in which he is not an expert. Of course, this cannot help but reflect on the quality of education and also in the conditions of distance learning, when not all children have stable access to the Internet due to constant attacks.
Moreover, the evaluation system in schools often does not reflect the real knowledge of the student. As a result, schoolchildren, feeling that they are losing important knowledge, begin to look for additional sources of learning. And these, unfortunately, are not school textbooks.
It is no longer a secret for anyone that the ZNO or NMT tests annually hang over students and teachers like the sword of Damocles. The problem with preparing for these tests is often that the school curriculum is overloaded. Students have to learn a large amount of material in a short period of time, which causes stress and overload. Because of this, students do not always have time to prepare well for exams within school hours. As practice has shown, funding is always insufficient for a quality evaluation procedure, and many mistakes are made in the test tasks. Entrants do not cope with them, and all around only hear, “but the teachers did not prepare the students well“. In our society, all the blame falls on the teachers.
IN decided The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation on the results of the national multi-subject test of 2024, like a verdict, states that the participants received NMT In 2024, the results indicate the low quality of training on the basis of full general secondary education. According to the analysis of the information of the director of the Ukrainian Center for the Evaluation of the Quality of Education on the results of the preparation of the NMT:
- 10.74% of applicants have a low level of knowledge;
- 63.09% of applicants have an average level of knowledge;
- 21.72% of applicants obtained a high level.
The lowest level of knowledge in the Ukrainian language, mathematics and history was demonstrated by 4.44% of schoolchildren.
Even after passing the test and receiving a cherished passing score, former schoolchildren, while studying at universities, feel a serious lack of basic knowledge. As the teachers of higher educational institutions note, students do not know how to analyze information, think critically, express and justify their own opinion. But is this a direct indication of low-quality school education? And perhaps the problem is that there is an incredible gulf between the curriculum of secondary education and the curriculum of higher education institutions.
Experience of foreign countries in using the services of tutors
For data According to the report of the international market analysis research and consulting group IMARC Group “Private tutoring market: forecast for 2023-2028”, in 2022 the size of the global tutoring market will grow to 106.0 billion US dollars. By 2028, the market is forecast to grow to USD 177.2 billion, which will be 8.87% during 2023-2028. Tutoring is common in many developed countries, although the reasons for its popularity may vary.
For example, South Korea is one of the countries where tutoring, especially in so-called “hagwons” (private academies), has become an integral part of the educational process. Korean students go through a lot of stress due to rigorous exams such as the Sungyunwan, which is similar to the SAT. Parents invest significant sums in additional education. Private lessons help students prepare for tests and increase their chances of admission to prestigious universities.
Japan also has a similar situation with “juku” – private learning centers that help children improve academic knowledge. Tutoring here is often used to prepare for admission to prestigious secondary and senior schools, as well as to increase the chances of successfully passing exams in higher educational institutions. As in Korea, the Japanese education system is very competitive, which encourages the massive use of tutoring services.
In China, tutoring is very common and is often associated with preparation for the “gaokao” – the national university entrance exam. This is one of the most important stages in the life of Chinese students, so parents actively invest in additional education. Tutoring in China sometimes takes up a large portion of students’ time because exam preparation is intense and exhausting.
In the United States, tutoring services are popular, but their use is not as systematic as in East Asian countries. The main clients of tutors in the USA are students who are preparing for the SAT or ACT – tests that affect admission to universities. In addition, tutors are hired to help with difficult subjects that students have difficulty with. However, because the American education system is more flexible and less focused on national tests, tutoring is not as mandatory here.
Tutoring is also common in the UK, especially for those preparing for private schools, universities or GCSE and A-level exams. By data according to analytical research by The Sutton Trust, about 27% of schoolchildren in Great Britain aged 11 to 16 use the services of tutors. As competition for places at top schools and universities is fierce, parents often hire tutors to improve academic performance. The cost of tutoring services in the UK can be very high, especially for those looking for specialized subject tutors.
In Germany, however, tutoring has gained popularity mainly among students who have problems with specific subjects or who are preparing for important exams such as the Abitur. However, the general education system in Germany provides a greater level of support for students through public programs, reducing the need for private lessons.
Unlike many other countries, tutoring is not that common in Finland. The Finnish education system is considered one of the best in the world due to equality, individual approach to students and high quality of teaching. Here, students do not need additional support, as the school system provides the necessary conditions for acquiring knowledge directly at school.
Despite the difference in approaches to tutoring in different countries, the general trend indicates that in the conditions of high competition and difficult entrance exams, tutoring becomes part of the educational culture. However, as the experience of countries such as Finland shows, with the right education system, students’ dependence on private lessons can be reduced.
As you can see, we are faced with a paradox: the state invests in school education, but the education system itself forces students to turn to private teachers. This creates a deep gap between society’s expectations and reality, in which school is no longer the main source of knowledge.
Can the system change? Of course. But this requires serious and effective reforms, which, unfortunately, the Ministry of Education and Culture is not capable of. The 12-year education announced by him will not change anything in this direction. There is a need to improve the quality of curricula, provide teachers with decent pay and opportunities for development, and reduce bureaucratic pressure. Only then can the school once again become a place where students acquire knowledge, and not just go “to attend classes”. If the school does not regain its role as the main source of knowledge, we risk losing a whole generation of students for whom school education will remain a mere formality, and the real preparation for life will take place outside the classrooms.
The mass transfer of high school students to tutors is a wake-up call for the entire society. If the school is no longer able to be a source of quality education, what awaits future generations? We risk losing faith in a system where every child has equal opportunities for learning and self-realization. School walls are gradually turning into formality, and real knowledge is acquired outside them – in private classes, for money, not available to everyone. This is a crisis that cannot be ignored. If we do not act now, in a few years school education will finally lose its meaning. And then the question will not be who studies with a tutor, but whether those who still believe in schooling will remain.
