Crouch End school pupils to receive maths lessons - from India

THE headteacher of a Crouch End primary school has defended her decision to outsource maths tutoring to India.

Pana McGee, headteacher of Ashmount Primary School, said that the school had decided to offer pupils one-on-one tuition with maths graduates in India, via the internet, because it provided value for money.

The Crouch End school, which falls in the borough of Islington but takes Haringey children, tested the scheme for free with Year 6 pupils in the summer term and plans to roll it out across the school next year. It costs �12 per pupil for an hour, which is at least half the market value of a maths tutor in London.

Mrs McGee said: “It’s not replacing maths lessons in the school, it’s an additional resource. The kids need one-to-one tuition and there was an opportunity here to provide it.

“Funding is an issue. How many graduates would you be able to find who would offer their services at that price?”

The service is provided by BrightSpark Education – a company which was set up by the London-based entrepreneur Tom Hooper.

Each pupil is given a set of headphones and then they log onto a website where they can interact with a tutor face-to-face, who is thousands of miles away in the Punjab.

All of the tutors are maths graduates with teaching experience and have undergone security checks to ensure they can work with children.