8 qualities parents and students must look for in a tutor

In the global education system, the role of private tutors remains always a topic of debate. Even after some adverse viewpoints about the role of the private tutor and their impact on the development of the educational standard of the students, it has now almost been proved beyond doubt, that private tutors have played and are still playing a significant role in the development of the academic career of the students all over the world. Now private tutors are being viewed as more a mentor than a teacher. Their responsibilities go beyond helping the students just to get good grade points in the examination. However, choosing private tutors for the students always poses a problem for the students and their parents. A suitable tutor can bring about a significant improvement in the overall academic performance as well as in the morale-boosting of the students. But, at the same time, if the private tutor is not suitable for the students to address the problems of the students, then it could be very detrimental to the academic as well as other development of the students. Therefore before selecting a private tutor, the students and their parents should look into the following factors:

• The first one is the level of education of the tutor and the academic performance. These two factors are important as the level of education (like whether the tutor is a graduate, postgraduate or with a higher degree) and the academic performance will reflect the depth of knowledge of the tutor in a particular subject. If the tutors have conventional teaching degrees, then that should be considered an added advantage. 
  
  
• The second one is the records of the tutor regarding his/her criminal records or other things. In most advanced countries like UK and USA, the tutors have to provide a certificate, issued by the Government authorities, to prove that/her background is clean of any such criminal records. This is very important for the safety of the students. 
  
  
• The third one is the track record of the tutor being selected to teach the student. The track record could be collected from the sources wherefrom the tutor is coming from. A tutor with a proven track record to teach several students, and contributing to the development of their academic as well as other performances, is a very important criterion for selecting the tutor. 
  
  
• The fourth one is the ability of the tutor to deliver the knowledge to the student. It has been seen many times that a tutor fails to make the student understand the subject, despite being academically sound and having very good knowledge of the subject, he/she has been appointed to teach. Being academically brilliant is completely different from being a good tutor. To be a good tutor, apart from having a sound academic career and subject knowledge, the tutor must have the ability to deliver the concept properly to the student.
  
  
• The tuning in between the tutor and the student is very vital for proper tutoring. The tutor should have the ability to develop proper tuning with the student. This will increase the confidence of the student in the tutor and the student will feel easy to tell every possible problem the same. Without proper tuning, the classes may seem to be boring to the student and he/she may be reluctant to disclose all the problems to the tutor, which will create a hindrance to the proper development of the student. 
  
  
• The subject tutor should be living within the same locality as the student. This will help to collect information about the quality of the tutor as well as will help the tutor to honour the timing of the classes properly.

• The tutor should be capable of providing in-depth knowledge of the subject and should be capable of preparing a proper schedule for the student, so the student can keep pace with the school and can complete the syllabus well before the examination. The tutoring should not be confined to the syllabus of the student and the tutor should provide additional knowledge on the subject to make the foundation of the student solid so far as the particular subject is concerned. 
  
  
• As stated earlier, the role of the tutor is not only to provide subject knowledge to the student. The role of a private tutor is much bigger than that. With their expertise in the subject and, their knowledge of the contemporary education world, the tutor should provide a proper guideline to the student regarding his/her chosen career path. By judging the efficiency and interest area of the student the tutors are always in the best position to advise the student about his/her career. Moreover, one very important part of tutoring is to motivate the students properly, by making him/her understand how important it is to have a good academic career. A good tutor will have the capability to act as a mentor of the student and not only as a subject expert.
  

However, the above criteria have been written mainly on the assumption that the tutor is a home tutor and the tutor-student will work out the classes by sitting face to face. Now a day, with the advancement of information technology, online tutoring has made a very important place in the private tutoring market. In the case of online tutoring also the above conditions are true, but some of them could not be judged directly. When choosing an online tutor from any such online tutoring company, it is always better to look at the reputation of the company within the student fraternity. Usually, online companies employ subject experts to teach their students and they appoint the teachers after a rigorous selection process. Still, it is always better to go through the profile of the tutors before opting for such a service. The profiles of the academic tutors, with their academic performance as well as experience in tutoring, are usually given by these companies to satisfy the queries of their students. One important and unique feature of this online tutoring is that the student can take tuition at his/her convenient time and if required, he/she can access an expert residing even beyond the boundary of his/her country. The flexibility is truly a great advantage for online tuition and the students or their parents should look into these factors before resorting to the tuition.