Economics

there have been a few articles in the papers not too long ago about how the market for private tutors (called tuition teachers in this country) is flourishing. many parents are willing to shell out shetloads of dosh to either compensate for their child's lack of intelligence and/or diligence or just to ensure beyond a shadow of a doubt that their child gets an A. this creates an avenue of an alternative source of income for school teachers, who, because of their experience with the syllabus and exams, are in the best position to be private tutors.

interestingly, this alternative source of income can be a lot more lucrative than being a teacher. and what a private tutor gets is directly proportional to how hard he/she is willing to work, very much unlike being a school teacher.

and of all the subjects, i would say that being a private tutor for economics is most lucrative. you see... as it is, there is already a shortage for economics teachers in the JCs. this is not surprising. considering that most people with an economics degree usually end up in a job in a bank or consultancy firm or marketing or any other place in the private sector. even within the public sector, there is a whole host of jobs where an economics graduate will fit very nicely. so the supply of economics teachers in school is already limited.

the demand is not helping the situation either. now with the H1 and H2 system, the number of students taking economics has grown tremendously. further, with the way the Singaporean economy is devoloping, the financial sector seems to be where a big bulk of our JC going kids aspire to be in. so there is a large number of students who want to take econs as an A-level subject.

as such, the ratio of econs tutors to students is not favourable. where do the students turn to then? private tutors. as such, private tuition for econs can get pretty expensive. therefore, if i am an econs teacher in a JC, after the 3 year bond there is many incentives for me to quit and be a private tutor instead. firstly, if i were to stay in a school, i take mroe classes than most of my colleagues and probably have as many non-teaching duties. and yet i'm paid the same amount as my other colleagues. why should i accept that? secondly, i would be teaching less students, therefore able to concentrate on them thus better able to help them improve and get better grades.

so...what is the motivation for an economics teacher to stay in the system? why would someone be willing to work more than his/her colleagues and be paid the same amount when he/she can teach less and earn more as a private tutor? that person must be a very resilient idealist. he/she must derive his/her reward from something very intangible. it would have to take a very noble (some would say foolish) breed of people.

i hope our students and the system appreciates these people and the sacrifices that they are making.