Home Tuition: Harnessing the Potential of Intellectual Social Capital - Dipesh Dulal

I may not engage in discussion on American homeschooling here. However, I had a pragmatic experience of homeschooling when I taught one of my kids at home (during the COVID-19 pandemic).

In this part of the world (Nepal), we mostly hear about 'home tuition' which mostly involves an adult (with- or without a degree in pedagogy) teaching the pupil(s) in the comfort of the home. Basically, the home of the pupil(s) is used as a tutoring place.

However, in some cases, the pupil may visit the home of the tutor which is mostly located in a nearby area.

The homeschool tutor may not have expertise in all subjects. In some cases, they may need to self-learn relevant topics before guiding a student.

In this part of the world, a home tuition tutor is basically paid by the parents/caretakers. If a parent/caretaker teaches the ward at home, s/he may not be remunerated by the public authorities. And, home tuition is not popularly considered as an alternative school in Nepal. It is taken as extra classes, or mostly, support classes.

In this article, I am going to discuss the positive sides of 'home tuition' (based on my experience/observation in the Nepalese context) which can also be related elsewhere.

Home Tuition: Making Use of Talent in the Proximity

In Nepal, the social networks of the local school and community come as the first priority when one wishes to recruit a home tutor.

Doing so, the local talent (mostly a young adult) gets some employment. Furthermore, home tuition helps in maintaining social capital (relations, value, respect, exchanges of labor and money).

In the context of socially embedded localities, monetary exchange may not be made against home tuition as a part-time job. Rather, the young members of the society are mostly seen volunteering to help the wards in the neighborhood. In such cases, the social relations have various interbinding nuances; for example, social bonds, non-monetary reciprocity of labor and local products, kinship, and spatial essentialism (willingness to help every individual of the locality be a competent citizen).