There remains very little, if any, regulation of this industry. More often than not they are set up by former tutors who have no teaching experience and can see a way to make a buck from getting other younger graduates to teach on their behalf. One agency I worked for was involved in quite a major scandal too. Here are the details in brief and I will name no names. You can find further news stories about it on the net if you're interested.
The first I knew about the scandal was when I received an email from a newspaper journalist asking me if I could talk about the agency. I quickly found out that the owner of the business was on the run from the police. He had been due to appear in court on charges of child pornography no less. However, what made the case particularly interesting was that the judge issued a warning that he was potentially dangerous to approach because he might be radioactive. Yes, radioactive. When he jumped bail he was having treatment for a thyroid problem and for six weeks after the treatment, he was hazardous to approach. I mean you couldn't make this sort of thing up. I have this image of a glow in the dark child catcher wandering the city by night.
Another incident at the same firm involved me going into their dank basement with no windows to do some photocopying to find a child sitting by himself.
'Do you want me to photocopy those for you?' the kid said.
'You should get on with your work,' I replied.
'I've done it all.'
'Where's your tutor?' I asked.
'He's upstairs talking with one of the other teachers. He told me to get on with this.'
'What is it you're doing?'
'Geography, but I finished ten minutes ago already.'
'I see.'
'So can I do your photocopying?'
'I'll find your teacher.'
This poor kid had been left for perhaps half an hour by himself, while the agency was charging his parents sixty or seventy pounds an hour. Of course, there are good tutors. If there weren't the industry would fall apart, but there are a lot of tutors who have no qualifications and perhaps teach subjects wildly different from their degrees. There is no regulation and there needs to be. There should be some equivalent form of PGCE or teacher training. Some parents are savvy about who they employ and sit in on a few lessons, but some have no idea. Better regulation would help both the students and the tutors feel protected.
Another incident at the same firm involved me going into their dank basement with no windows to do some photocopying to find a child sitting by himself.
'Do you want me to photocopy those for you?' the kid said.
'You should get on with your work,' I replied.
'I've done it all.'
'Where's your tutor?' I asked.
'He's upstairs talking with one of the other teachers. He told me to get on with this.'
'What is it you're doing?'
'Geography, but I finished ten minutes ago already.'
'I see.'
'So can I do your photocopying?'
'I'll find your teacher.'
This poor kid had been left for perhaps half an hour by himself, while the agency was charging his parents sixty or seventy pounds an hour. Of course, there are good tutors. If there weren't the industry would fall apart, but there are a lot of tutors who have no qualifications and perhaps teach subjects wildly different from their degrees. There is no regulation and there needs to be. There should be some equivalent form of PGCE or teacher training. Some parents are savvy about who they employ and sit in on a few lessons, but some have no idea. Better regulation would help both the students and the tutors feel protected.
