UK maths teaching outsourced to India

A north London primary school has become the first school to follow a controversial private sector trend by outsourcing maths teaching to India.

The school is running a pilot project with y-6 pupils, providing them with one-to-one tuition by using Indian teachers based more than 4,000 miles away.

Each student is given a headset and logs on the website where they can interact with the tutor, while following their instructions on the screen, which works similarly to an interactive whiteboard. The tuition costs the school $25NZD/hour per student.

Teachers say that the service has made a significant difference to students’ understanding of the subject. The school is now planning to expand it to other pupils and year groups.

Dylan Wiliam, director of London University’s Institute of Education, said that such a system could work for many schools, but there are also dangers.

“It depends how good the tutor’s English is”, Mr Wiliam said. “The teachers will also need to understand the cultural conventions of the country. For example, long division is laid out differently in countries.”

He is, however, positive that this system will become commonplace in time. “Paying for additional tuition can be up to $85NZD/hour in London”, the teachers say. “It makes sense, the kids enjoy and it is a different way of approaching the subject with children who might find it harder to engage with maths.”