MAKING IT ALL ADD UP, HOW PRIVATE TUTORS ARE COINING IT
TEACHERS, former teachers and students are making a killing from offering extra tuition to pupils, mostly in maths and science — earning as much as R3 000 an hour and up to R143 000 a month.
Johannesburg maths and science tutor Isaac Sibongiseni, who advertises on the website First Tutors: South Africa, charges R1 000 an hour for private lessons in maths and R900 for an hour of physical science.
A physical science teacher, who charges R580 an hour for a lesson, is in such great demand parents book him more than a year in advance.
In the UK, where it is reportedly a R128-billion industry, at least one in four children, and almost half in London, had private tuition last year.
A maths teacher employed at a top Joburg private school, who also offers extra tuition, said there was a huge demand for tutoring, both from pupils who were “struggling with maths” and those “who wanted to get the best possible mark”.
The teacher is providing one-onone lessons to four Grade 11 pupils and six Grade 12 pupils at an hourly rate of between R350 and R450 per pupil.
“It [tutoring] is very demanding but they get quality. I’m just a dedicated teacher who believes in the child. I motivate my students and set the pace.
“As I grow them, I challenge them with harder examples. Obviously, it gives me the extra income because, as you know, we don’t earn very well.
“My aim is to get them an ‘A’ and a lot of them do.”
The teacher, who prefers not to be named, said she knew of teachers earning R1 500 an hour.
“For me, it’s a moral issue and I will never do that.”
Kevin Smith, a well-known Johannesburg tutor and the author of maths handbooks and study guides, said he knew of people who charged more than R700 for 40 minutes of extra tuition. He, on the other hand, only asks R150 an hour for a group lesson.
“Sometimes extra lessons are very necessary. A lot of students go for extra lessons to get their As.”
Asked how he felt about tutors charging in excess of R700, Smith said: “If they can find parents who are willing to pay, then all the best to them.”
Johannesburg mother of three Naeema Surtee said she was desperately looking for a homework tutor so that concepts taught in class could be reinforced. “I don’t need someone who is going to do the homework for them; I want somebody who can ‘extend’ my children.”
She was prepared to hire a tutor at an hourly rate of R200.
A Joburg couple who are forking out R24 000 a month to send their three children to top private schools are spending an additional R3 440 every month on extra lessons.
“My kids attend extra lessons for distinctions, not to just pass,” said the mother, who is a Grade 2 teacher and a part-time homework tutor herself earning R500 an hour.
Her son, who is in matric and wants to study engineering at university next year, is determined to get six distinctions.
She pays R2 320 a month for his 12 hours of extra maths, science and Afrikaans and R285 an hour for her daughter’s maths tuition.
“There are eight pupils, including my daughter, in the maths lesson, so I’m not paying for a private lesson but I am paying because I get the results. I am doing homework tuition to pay for their extra lessons.”
The mother, who is employed by a wealthy family, said they spent about R10 000 a month on tutors for their three children.
“Among my friends, the norm for the payment for extra lessons is about R4 000 a month.”
The parent said her daughter’s Grade 9 maths tutor made R2 240 an hour tutoring eight pupils. The girl’s tutor has four sessions in an afternoon, which nets her R8 960 a day. The tutor teaches four days a week, earning R35 840, which works out to R143 360 a month.
Rylene Kisten, 17, a top-scoring student from KwaZulu-Natal, said she “probably wouldn’t have done so well” had it not been for extra classes. “I am not saying our teachers weren’t sufficient, but the additional problems for us to solve during extra classes helped.”
Tutoring company BrightSparkz Tutors has about 400 tutors providing tuition to about 450 pupils.
BrightSparkz Tutors said its starting rate for its classic packages for school subjects was between R200 and R220 an hour.
❛ It gives me the extra income because, as you know, we don’t earn very well