Who's Helping with Homework

Back to school: new clothes, new backpack, crisp new supplies, seeing how much your friends have changed over the summer…………..and oh yeah, homework. 

Enter outsourced homework help and tutoring from India. India has a large number of qualified teachers, especially in maths and sciences (areas that the United States is weaker in) that are willing to work for a fraction of what an American tutor would charge. India already is the recipient of many outsourced customer care and technical support call centers .So why not outsource our kids’ homework help to them, too? With prices such as $18 an hour versus $70-$80 per hour a private tutor locally would charge, it seems to make sense. 

There are, of course, some objections: outsourcing any job brings a wave of dissatisfaction about sending American jobs overseas. The fact that highly qualified and well-trained teachers are prepared to work for less money than their American counterparts doesn’t quell those objections. 

Other concerns are cultural: how well does a math or science teacher in India know your students’ curriculum? How well does the student understand the tutor? 

There are political questions to consider: after three years on the needs improvement list, a school is required by No Child Left Behind to provide tutoring. Providing that tutoring with outsourced teachers a world away is an example of a double standard according to some critics. These critics call preventing a school district from doing its own tutoring, but allowing an overseas firm to provide the help, an example of gross double standards. These critics also feel that there isn’t enough oversight in the tutoring industry, particularly when the tutors are in another country and culture, such as India.