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Access to private learning sessions, as a resource for school support, is very often looked at as a mirror reflecting inequalities between social classes.
In countries all over the world, paying for private tuition for their children is expensive and represents a significant part of the parents' budget.
On the other hand, personal tutoring is viewed by many families as a vehicle for social integration and academic excellence.
It also complements some education systems academic teaching that is sometimes considered to be insufficient or even mediocre.
Here are some reasons why academic support is often targeted by parents:
- acquiring a level of excellence for the children,
- to obtain a diploma,
- passing a higher academic degree,
- to enter a prestigious secondary school,
- to avoid illiteracy,
- to cultivate the hope that children will have a better social position than their parents (all parents want their children to have a better life),
- offering an education that makes up for the shortcomings of the National Education System.
For these many reasons, private tutoring classes whether at home, online or at school, allow a catch-up and upgrade to fight against future academic failure.
Are you a professor from the National Education System who is moving to South America to offer private at-home academic lessons?
Are you an expatriate looking for primary and secondary school support?
Or are you travelling to Latin America (working holiday program, road trip, etc.) and looking to get paid while overseas?
Today, Superprof is looking at school support in Latin America to guide you towards making a rewarding decision.
Remedial Teaching in Latin America
The South American continent has 12 countries that have completely different cultures and total a gross population of about 410 million inhabitants. There are 5 official languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, French, English and Dutch.
Portuguese is the dominant language by a small margin with Spanish tailing close behind.
Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela etc., are now becoming rich, developed or "emerging" countries that are now lining up beside some European countries in terms of countries with the highest gross domestic product.
Nevertheless, in the South America continent, severe social gaps persist. Many countries still feel the recent effects of economic crises, military dictatorships, mafia crimes, drug trafficking, guerrillas, corrupt political leaders and civil wars (sounds like paradise, doesn't it?). With all of these prevalent issues, many children do not have access to quality education.
To make matters worse, South America has very hostile geographic locations (the Andean Cordillera, Atacama Desert, Amazon Jungle and Bolivian Altiplano). All of them so different and often difficult to navigate.
Schools are often private and have high registration fees. The social inequalities and poverty of some populations prevent many South American children from gaining access to schools and private teachers to help them academically.
Taking home tutoring classes, therefore, appears as a luxury reserved for the privileged categories of the upper middle classes.
In South America's poorest countries (Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru), extra school support has thankfully developed as a result of humanitarian missions from many NGOs (non-governmental organizations).
According to the prevalent inequalities, in 2012, Latin America had an enrollment rate of 92% in primary school and 88% in secondary school education.
UNICEF reports that 21.1 million school-age children in Latin America are either not in school or at risk of dropping out.
These statistics explain the great need to take home tutoring classes in this part of the world.
However, in the most developed countries private tutoring is more widespread: in Brazil, the world's 9th greatest economy, 50% of students have already taken remedial classes.
The private tutoring market is very heterogeneous in South America. The richer the country, the more its education policies will be developed.
So, you make ask, where can we take private tutoring sessions or give supplemental instruction classes in South America?
And how can you learn more about the amazing people all over the world who provide academic support?
Private Tutoring Schools in Latin America
Here are some specialized and structured private teaching programs that are offered on the South American continent:
- donQuijote: Language school to learn Spanish with 32 locations in Spain and all Hispanic countries in South America. Learn to become fluent in Spanish through intensive courses that improve study skills and conversation lessons with natives whose mother tongue is Spanish. Highly recommended program.
- Apple Language Courses: Learning platform that organizes the study of languages abroad. They strongly believe that the best place to learn English, French, Arabic, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese etc., is in the country where the chosen language is spoken. In South America, Spanish classes are offered in 30 centres in countries such as Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
- Enforex: Enforex is a language school for learning Spanish in 13 Spanish cities, six countries in South America (Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador) and five countries in Central America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic).
- Estudio Hispanico (or Spanish studies in English): A Spanish language school in Spain and ten other cities in Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador).
These centres are not so much academic tutoring schools as they are educational institutions to take at-home Spanish classes to improve fluency.
Nevertheless, you can still enrol yourself or your child in one of the abovementioned options: Spanish lessons with a native private instructor will no doubt improve your child's school performance during the academic year.
Why not become a professional, pedagogical private educator to develop primary and secondary school support in Latin America?
Offering Extra School Support during a stay in Latin America
It seems to be humanitarian associations that offer the most school support and online tutoring to South American schoolchildren.
In Brazil
- Project Favela Rio de Janeiro Brazil: Volunteer organization that operates a small school and an international volunteer abroad program in Rio de Janeiro. Non-paid participants, who do not need a teaching certification, offer an early childhood education program and a diverse after-school STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) program to help students in the community for free.
- Save the Children Brazil: UK based organization that has been working in Brazil since 1991 creating better lives for Brazilian children. The statistics are alarming: 70% of children who’ve completed six years of schooling can’t read or understand forms to apply for a job or open a bank account. This organization is working with teachers, students and schools to improve students education and make it a priority.
Did you know that tutoring in Asia is a million-dollar industry?
In Peru
- Proyectar Sin Fronteras: This NGO provides private tuition in Lima for Peruvian children. They offer mathematics, French, English, and Portuguese lessons for children with academic difficulties and promote European and Latin-American culture while teaching.
- SKIP (Supporting Kids in Peru): A non-profit organization working with impoverished children in the districts of El Porvenir and Alto Trujillo to get them the education they deserve. This organization works with the whole family because they believe that in order for children to succeed they need to be raised in economically stable households and healthy home environments. Education programs offer support in core subjects such as math and science. Also, ensuring that the young pupil has sufficient literacy skills to achieve good grades in school.
- Quebracho Association: A French organization that cares for children in "extreme poverty." It is intended to help children who can barely afford to go to school to achieve academic success. The objectives are to fight against student absenteeism and improve the academic results of the pupil.
- Panpachay: A Peruvian association for children. Provides academic support to the most disadvantaged families in the city of Arequipa, Peru. This organization fights against school failure and ensures that students have future academic prospects to lead them to a better life. Extra school support is organized around homework help classes, with a teacher or teaching assistant who is also the student's academic advisor. Panpachay is regularly looking for volunteers to offer academic support and participate in school activities!
- Volunteer in Peru with Freepackers: Do a humanitarian internship in Cuzco, Peru to help children fight against school failure. Offer practical tips and suggestions to improve the study skills and school grades of students with academic difficulties.
Get online tutoring on Superprof!
In Bolivia
- Volunteers from the non-profit organization of "Hermanos Mayores y Giltzarria" provide tutoring classes for children and students whose family income is very low: reading-writing courses, simple learning activities and recreational games. This learning centre uses a fun methodology to create motivation, confidence and the desire to learn more.
- World Vision: Is an organization working towards education for better lives in Bolivia. Many parents have been taught about the importance of early childhood development and primary school teachers have been shown fun, engaging methods to keep students interested in learning.
Also learn about tutoring on the African continent!
Argentina and Chile
In the two most southern countries of Latin America, the education system is more developed than in Bolivia or Peru.
Nevertheless, inequalities persist and who you are matters. Whether it is your family background (European descendants are highly favoured) or if you have graduated from higher education, Chileans and Argentineans suffer from these prejudices and this makes the learning experience more challenging:
- Union de los Pibes: You could choose to take a year off and head to Argentina posting announcements all over the country's major cities offering private tutoring classes (English lessons, mathematics, science, history etc.) to students with academic difficulties or get started right away and volunteer for free in this small voluntary organization based in Buenos Aires. Union de los Pibes has private tutors helping out students with core subject classes from the classroom curriculum while at the same time creating a safe and stable learning environment for a couple hours a week.
- Volunteer in Chile Teaching Program: The opportunity of teaching English overseas in Chile has become more popular since the Chilean Ministry of Education implemented goals to make Chile a bilingual nation. Have a part in teaching Chilean children English in La Serena at a kindergarten, primary and secondary school level. Projects last between 2-8 weeks.
Head down South with Project Abroad
If you are a qualified teacher who wants to go all around the world, why not participate in humanitarian missions to teach abroad?
In four (Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador) countries on the South American continent, pass on your knowledge to children having academic difficulties with English as a foreign language, mathematics, history and geography. These remedial classes can take place during the evening or during school holidays.
Imparting your academic wisdom will take place in schools, colleges, universities, language schools and local institutions.
If you want to travel the world and tutoring in South America seems like an attractive idea, I guarantee you will like the idea as much in North America and Africa. Spin the globe and pick your location!
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