TUEX EDUCATION: TUTORING VANCOUVER ON THE GO
Vancouver’s first app-based tutor and student matching service offers flexibility, quality and peace of mind
More than 20 years ago, Alfred Chien was working as a banker and tutoring 30 or 40 students on the side. He remembers the day he received a call from a single mother who needed academic help for her grade 9 son.
“After I talked to her for 15 minutes, I was sure I could help this child improve in his studies,” Chien recalls. “But this mother was working three jobs to make ends meet. How would we decide on a schedule? How could she afford tutoring, even after I offered her a discount?”
Chien was troubled by the scenario because he wanted to help but couldn’t, despite being well aware of the positive influence tutoring could have for this family.
“I kept thinking, what if I could tutor this kid?” Chien says. “Could I help him become a better person? Could I teach him better study methods so he could go further in his education? Could he even learn to tutor other students and earn extra money for the family?”
With plenty of experience in the non-profit sector—sitting on the board of the Canadian Liver Foundation – BC & Yukon and volunteering as a committee member of the Feast of Fortune at St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation—chien envisioned a foundation with a mandate to help underprivileged youth obtain tutoring services. “To make that happen, we needed educators to help those kids succeed academically, but I also needed money to achieve my passion,” he says. TUEX Foundation was founded under the BC Society Act, and Chien set to work building a successful business enterprise to support his dream.
In 2018 TUEX Education was born. It is Vancouver’s that only matches app-based, qualified, Uber-like knowledgeable service and passionate tutors with students seeking help in all academic subjects, like math, English, and science, as well as those needing help in nonacademic areas like piano or driving lessons. Once matched, tutoring takes place in home or in a mutually agreed-upon public place, and students can rate tutors afterward. Chien brings 25 years of tutoring experience to the business, and he also knows a thing or two about the tutoring market in the Lower Mainland. “Canada is a multicultural country, and there are so many gaps in the industry.”
Until now, non-caucasian parents couldn’t access information in their language of origin about where to find a reputable tutor. The TUEX app is multilingual—it offers English and Chinese with French, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese options in the works.
“A parent from almost any background will be able to find the exact tutor they need using a version in their language of origin,” Chien says. “The parent will know though the app’s search feature and the tutor’s bio whether he or she can speak that same language, but at least the parent can be sure they are finding the right person for the job.”
TUEX tutors’ pricing schedule is more flexible than the average prices set by private tutors and other tutoring centres. “Our tutors will set their own prices so students and parents can have more options,” Chien says.
The app even offers GPS tracking, so a student’s parents can always see where the student is during the meeting and it has a built in “panic-button” for added safety.
Before they can be booked through the of valid their TUEX criminal qualifications app, record tutors check and must education provide and vulnerable proof and a sector check. If they pass the screening and their qualifications check out, they can create a profile highlighting their skills, areas of expertise, certifications, and other relevant details. Students browse the profiles by subject or tutor, see the tutor’s availability and book appointments.
Tutors work when they like on a variable commission rate that increases in the tutor’s favour the longer he or she is using the platform. TUEX currently connects students and teachers online for in-person one-on-one sessions, offers online Q&A for a small fee, and will be expanding to offer group classes later in 2020.
“As a platform, we share mutual benefits with the tutors,” Chien says. “The more successful they are, the more successful we are, and since a portion of our profit goes into the foundation more students receive help.”
The TUEX Foundation offers each accepted student in need $50/month for tutoring services. Students who wish to access the Foundation’s programming can do so through their school counsellors.
Once TUEX achieves the required capital investment the next steps will be enriching its Q&A capability, adding artificial intelligence capability and expanding into the Toronto and Montreal markets.