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Qualified teachers should be hired

THE decision to sack some teachers found guilty of taking private tuition is perhaps neither the best, nor the only solution to deal with this problem. Prevention is obviously better than cure, which is why we feel that school managements should ensure that they select highly qualified and highly committed teachers, who are also educationists, in the first place.

Such teachers, in our view, would not succumb to the commercial temptations of resorting to taking private tuition surreptitiously, which in some cases can prove to be a better source of income than the regular, monthly, school salary.

We also assume that if good qualified teachers are taking their job seriously in the classroom and teaching their students well enough, the need for additional private tuition is in any case minimised. Of course, for those students who may still need some additional tutorials, the school management itself can provide this assistance as a free facility — and compensate the teachers in some adequate manner accordingly.

Finally, the parents too should not insist, as more often than not they do, that private tuition are the best solution for their ward — even though they may be scoring high enough. That happens mostly because of excessive competition and peer pressure which adds to the stress of the student concerned.

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