Dear Henry
I have just taken part in the survey below and I have to say that I was disappointed that the questions I was asked were weighted so heavily against the ISA Scheme. I think this will lead to the results of your survey being biased as people are asked to agree or disagree with persuasive rather than neutral wording. I am of the opinion that the ISA Scheme does not go far enough in protecting children or their parents by making the system still voluntary to a certain extent. I think it is imperative that all tutors have an Enhanced CRB/ Disclosure Scotland check which ought to be their responsibility to obtain. Although we will never stamp out the risk of paedophilia infiltrating the tuition industry, there is a lot we can do to minimise the risks as far as possible.
I hope this feedback is of assistance to you.
Kind regards
Valerie Kemp
I have expressed my opinion about the need for mandatory checks and proper regulation of the tuition industry on the blog and on the website in the past. I stick by these views. The results of the survey have been published in the Guardian, the Independent and the Telegraph. The Independent article is here:
Tutors' Alliance published a response to this in the comments section on the Independent site.
I run an organisation which provides vetting and qualification checking services for tutors. Unlike Mr Fagg, I believe it is imperative that checks are carried out on tutors and although I am not as naive to think that my system is fool-proof, I certainly provide the maximum amount of peace of mind to tutors and parents as I can. We are of the opinion that this scheme does not go far enough - it should be mandatory for all tutors to have checks carried out by the ISA. Working with young people entails a number of responsibilities and it is simply not enough to rely on tutors' word that they are suitable for tutoring your child. Parents need guarantees and checks of this nature are the only way to do this. We regulate schools, nurseries, voluntary groups - why not tutoring? The only consolation in all this is that the majority of parents I have spoken to are aware that their "personal recommendations and own judgment" does not extend to some kind of psychic knowledge about which people may pose a risk to their children. How long is it before we see a Vanessa George or Ian Huntley in the tuition industry?
Valerie Kemp
I am pround that Tutors' Alliance members are all take their tutoring so seriously and all have Enhanced Disclosure Scotland/CRB checks as a mandatory requirement. They are required to renew these on an annual basis. The ISA scheme is not a "tax on teaching" but a step in the right direction in protection children. The way the results of the survey have been reported in the press have 3 effects:
1. They don't portray the full story - neither of the three reports makes any mention of the fact the tutoring industry is subject to no regulation whatsoever and anyone can set up as a tutor.
2. They are a blatant "plug" for thetutorpages.com. Although I believe Henry Fagg has some good ideas and appears to be more on the ball than some of his competitors, we must remember that thetutorpages.com allows anyone to advertise with no checks required. This explains why the survey was so biased - the ISA scheme is a threat to their revenue as less people will want to "sign up" as tutors if they feel obliged to register under the scheme. In this respect, it is worth remembering that with the majority of tutors earning £15 - £30 per hour, a £64 fee for the whole year is not excessive.
3. The blatant "plug" for the Conservative party with reference to their manifesto seems like simple electioneering to me.
We must all be wary of the results of this "commercial" survey. The Guardian reported that there are 750 000 home tutors in the UK and the Telegraph reported that there are 180 000 - am I missing something? Either way, Henry Fagg's survey of 525 cannot be seen to be representative of tutors' views. Based on the Telegraph's more conservative estimate, only 0.29% of tutors nationwide took part in this survey - can this really be seen as affirming that "private tutors plan to boycott Government vetting scheme"?
