ONLINE MATH EDUCATION

With western countries facing an acute shortage of mathematics (65 per cent of US 12 graders are not proficient in Maths) and science instructors, Indian teachers are tutoring foreign students online on everything from the Pythagoras theorems to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.An article Wall Street Journal says the next wave of outsourced services would be from education. Currently private tutoring in the US is a $ 8 billion industry of which $ 3 billion comes from online tutoring. Moreover, the No Child Left Behind Act has spurred the demand for tutors. One estimate suggests that 40 per cent American students flunk maths and the country needs at least one million skilled teachers by 2015.Using a web camera, e-tutors are able to guide students via ‘White Board’, a software with a voice and text platform. EPO companies in India charge the students $20-35 per hour, which is much cheaper than their American counterparts.US-based Tutors World Wide Inc has identified highly qualified postgraduate lead tutors through firms like NIIT and Career Launcher. Educomp Solutions Ltd (www.educomp.com) with its head office in Delhi and numerous centres across the country has 850 teachers on its rolls to provide EPO services.Companies like Highpoint Learning Inc., Hyderabad, which provides web-based education services are now exploring markets in Spain, South Korea and New Zealand.from...TRIBUNE