Africa-Press – Uganda. There is an emerging opportunity for busy working parents who are ready to pay for homeschooling.
The indefinite suspension of early childhood learning by the Education Ministry for fear of exposing Covid-19 to children under six years has left ripple economic effects in the education sector.
Early learning for children below age six has grown over the last 20 years due to a multi- million shilling sub-sector employing thousands of Ugandans including kindergarten and home care teachers, food and scholastic materials suppliers among others.
It is not only kindergarten, but also other classes are seeking for quality homeschooling services.
With almost a year out of school, many teachers have been left without jobs.
However, there is an emerging opportunity for busy working parents who are willing to pay for homeschooling.
Many parents are not able to put a large amount of time towards homeschooling due financial pursuits for their families.
Some can easily pay some extra bucks for teachers who are ready to do homeschooling.
Arthur Otim is among the busy working parents who is paying to let his children do home schooling. Before, he has been spending heavily on what he describes as, ‘long distance’ learning involving his children’s school. But after a term, he found it tedious and expensive.
“We were doing long distance teaching while paying Shs1.6 million to do the work. But the cost of movements back and forth across the school for assessments were tiring,” he says.
Otim has since shifted into homeschooling where he parts with Shs500,000 per month to pay the teachers involved.
“We have three children, and normally we get a teacher that supervises them and we pay this teacher Shs200,000 plus other expenses such as transport. This comes to almost Shs500,000,” he explains.
Jerusha Bazanama, a mother of two is toying with the idea of homeschooling her child since nursery school has been suspended.
She imagines the learning session at home with the help of a teacher for the first time.
“It might be costly but it is safer for the children. Kindergarten helps them learn more skills before joining primary school,” she says.
Indeed, there are parents who are opting to homeschool their children despite the Covid-19 constraints.
So, how can teachers leverage on this opportunity?
Successful experience
Francis Okweda at Everest Gauge Learning System, has developed a homeschooling electronic system which he has used during the period of the lockdown to mint money from homeschooling.
With a team of 38 teachers spread across the city, access to homes is easier since each teacher on his team leverages on the opportunity cost.
Okweda has also spread out teachers to students depending on where they stay to create proximity, cut transport costs and reduce the cost of service.
Okweda’s model of homeschooling is built on an e-learning system with capacity to capture and give evidence of work done on a daily basis.
The system was also designed to meet specific academic requirements that should be fulfilled during the course of teaching.
If all standards have been fulfilled during the teaching, then the system will bill the parent according to what has been taught, assessment and time spent while teaching.
The system also offers a parent offers digital tools to monitor the child’s learning without necessarily being present.
Homeschooling, according Okweda should not be a daily routine of school lessons. Children need only three days especially the young ones to comprehend the content taught.
“Factoring in the financials, as a teacher you don’t need to teach for more days because of the money but rather focus on the quality of teaching,” he says.
Marketing yourself
Becoming marketable in home schooling is no mean feat. Parents will need to trust you with their children and this according to Okweda takes time to develop mutual trust.
For Bazanama, a good home schooling must possess a track record of producing quality work.
“Once your teaching is credible, then you can easily get more recommendations from other parents,” she notes.
Teachers should move around asking parents if they are in need of services instead of waiting for windfalls.
She points out that for any home schooling teacher ready to make some quick bucks, availability, flexibility, quality of their teaching and time keeping should be adhered to.
For starters, Okweda advises teachers who want to venture into home schooling to start with students whom they are familiar with as they move up the ladder.
To develop trust with parents, have your criminal and health checks done and get recommendations from authorities.
Learn the latest teaching technologies such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to deliver a better experience of homeschooling which will give you a cutting edge in an overcrowded market.
As a teacher, you need to understand what parents want. Whereas majority parents prefer physical engagement with children, they also want online engagement to create a balance.
For practical lessons, form partnerships with nearby schools and laboratories for sciences. If you are going to conduct practicals, then you need partnerships with schools and laboratories for sciences.
