Last month, a parent asked me whether her daughter should join tuition for every subject in Class 10. The daughter was doing reasonably well, had no difficulty understanding her lessons, and had not asked for extra help. Her mother was still worried because “everybody else” in the class had already joined two or three coaching classes.
My answer was simple: tuition is not necessary for Class 10 if a child understands the material, can study independently, and has access to a competent school teacher for doubts. Tuition becomes useful when there is a specific gap—poor teaching, a weak foundation, persistent confusion, a learning difficulty, or a child who needs structure. It is not automatically useful merely because the board examination is important.
I realise this sounds almost irresponsible to many Indian parents. Class 10 is treated as a national emergency. Timetables are reorganised, holidays disappear, and children are sent from school to tuition to homework to another tuition class. Parents call this “support”. Quite often, it is simply anxiety being converted into a monthly payment.
The child who was attending three tuitions
The girl in front of me was already spending close to four hours each evening in coaching classes. Her mother had enrolled her in mathematics, science and English. The daughter returned home tired, completed the worksheets given by the tutors, and went to bed. She had very little time to read a chapter slowly, solve a problem in her own way, or ask herself whether she had understood anything.
When I asked her which subject she found difficult, she said mathematics. When I asked which topic, she said she could not remember. That answer told me more than her marks would have.
She was not suffering from a shortage of tuition. She was suffering from a shortage of attention.
Her mother had mistaken activity for learning. The child was busy throughout the evening, so the family felt that serious preparation was taking place. But learning is not measured by the number of hours spent sitting in a classroom. It is measured by whether the child can explain an idea, solve a new problem, remember it after a week, and recognise where she went wrong.
This is exactly the mistake I see in early-stage investing. A founder may attend ten meetings, collect five mentors and prepare three pitch decks, yet still not understand the customer. Motion is not progress. The same is true of tuition.
Is tuition necessary for Class 10?
For most children, no—not by default.
A child may need tuition if:
- the school teaching is poor or irregular;
- the child has missed substantial portions of the syllabus because of illness or another disruption;
- there are genuine gaps in basic mathematics, reading, writing or science;
- the child understands concepts but cannot organise independent study;
- the child has a specific learning difficulty and needs individualised teaching;
- the school is unable to answer doubts in a reasonable time;
- the child is preparing for a particular competitive examination in addition to the board examination.
But if a child understands what is taught, completes schoolwork honestly, performs adequately in periodic tests, and can study without someone sitting beside her, compulsory tuition may do more harm than good.
The word “compulsory” matters. Voluntary help for a defined problem is one thing. Sending a child to tuition because the neighbours do so is another.
What Class 10 actually demands
Class 10 examinations do require preparation. I do not want to romanticise the idea that every child can simply ignore the syllabus and discover knowledge through play. Board examinations test a defined body of content, and students need to know that content.
But the requirements are less mysterious than the tuition industry would like parents to believe. A Class 10 student generally needs:
- a clear understanding of the syllabus and examination pattern;
- regular revision rather than a frantic final month;
- practice in writing answers within the available time;
- the ability to identify weak areas;
- feedback on mistakes;
- sleep, exercise and enough unstructured time to remain mentally functional.
None of these automatically requires a coaching centre.
A child who studies mathematics for forty-five focused minutes, checks the errors carefully, and revisits the weak chapter after three days may learn more than a child who spends two hours copying solutions in a crowded class.
I would rather see a student solve ten unfamiliar problems and understand five mistakes than complete fifty routine questions by following a teacher mechanically.
Tuition can hide the real problem
Parents often tell me that their child “needs tuition” when the actual problem is one of four different things.
The first is a weak foundation. A child who is struggling with algebra in Class 10 may never have understood fractions, ratios or basic equations properly. Giving that child more Class 10 worksheets is like giving a patient with anaemia another painkiller. The immediate discomfort may be covered, but the underlying problem remains.
The second is poor concentration. Some children sit with a book for two hours but work for only fifteen minutes. Tuition gives them external supervision, so the family sees temporary improvement. But unless the child slowly learns to work independently, the dependence remains.
The third is fear. Parents fear that their child will fall behind, so they add classes. The child then becomes more anxious, studies less effectively, and begins to believe that she is incapable of learning without an adult standing nearby.
The fourth is comparison. A neighbour says her son attends a famous coaching class. A school WhatsApp group fills with advertisements and success stories. Parents conclude that refusing tuition is equivalent to neglecting the child.
I have seen this same social pressure among patients seeking fertility treatment. A couple hears that another couple underwent an expensive procedure, so they assume they need the same treatment. The right question is not “What did someone else do?” It is “What problem are we trying to solve in this particular case?”
School quality matters more than the label “tuition”
There is no universal answer because schools differ enormously.
In one school, a mathematics teacher may explain concepts well, check notebooks, discuss errors and remain available after class. In another, the teacher may rush through chapters, rely on memorisation and have little time for individual questions. A child in the second school may genuinely need outside support.
Similarly, a small group taught by a thoughtful teacher can be useful. A large class in which students copy notes and memorise model answers may not be.
Parents should evaluate the actual teacher, not the brand name of the coaching centre. Ask to see a typical worksheet. Find out how doubts are handled. Ask whether the teacher tests understanding or merely dictates answers. Speak to current students, not only to the parent whose child scored 95 per cent.
Marks alone are a poor way to judge teaching. A tutor may produce high marks by training students to reproduce predictable answers. That may help in the short term, but it does not necessarily build the ability to think, write clearly or learn independently.
When a tutor is genuinely useful
I am not against tuition. I am against unexamined tuition.
A good tutor can make a large difference when the need is specific. Suppose a child has missed two months of school after illness. A tutor can help rebuild the sequence of concepts. Suppose a child is bright but embarrassed to ask questions in a classroom of forty students. A small group may give her the confidence to speak. Suppose a child has dyscalculia, dyslexia or attention difficulties. Individual attention, possibly from a specialist, may be necessary.
In each of these cases, I would define the problem before hiring the tutor.
| Situation | Likely need | What I would try first |
|---|---|---|
| One or two chapters are unclear | Targeted help | Ask the school teacher, use a good explanation online, or take a few focused sessions |
| Basic concepts are weak across several topics | Foundation repair | Go back to earlier material instead of rushing through Class 10 exercises |
| Child cannot plan or study alone | Structure and accountability | Create a weekly plan and review it before paying for daily tuition |
| School teaching is consistently inadequate | Regular outside support | Choose a teacher who explains and checks understanding, preferably in a small group |
| Child is already exhausted and anxious | Less load, not more classes | Reduce commitments, protect sleep and identify the source of anxiety |
| Specific learning difficulty | Specialist support | Seek a qualified assessment and an appropriate educational plan |
The most important column is the last one. It is tempting to buy a standard product for a non-standard problem. Children are not standard products.
Do not confuse board preparation with competitive-exam coaching
Many Class 10 students are enrolled in tuition not only for their board examinations but also for future entrance examinations. This is a separate decision and should be discussed honestly.
If the family has decided that the child wants to pursue a highly competitive path, additional preparation may be appropriate. But parents should not pretend that an intense coaching schedule is required merely to pass Class 10. The two objectives are different.
A child may score well in a board examination through disciplined school-based preparation. Competitive examinations may demand a different pace, a different depth of problem-solving and a much heavier workload. Combining both without considering the child’s temperament can create misery without producing excellence.
I have met founders who raised money too early because they confused a prestigious investor meeting with actual progress. Parents can make the same error by confusing a famous coaching centre with educational quality. The logo is not the learning.
The hidden price is not only the fee
Tuition fees are visible. The other costs are often ignored.
There is travel time. There is the opportunity cost of not reading, playing, sleeping or speaking with family. There is the mental cost of moving from one adult’s method to another. There is the risk that the child stops taking responsibility because someone else is always setting the questions and checking the answers.
There is also a financial cost for the family. A parent may spend thousands of rupees each month on three classes, then feel compelled to continue because withdrawing would mean admitting that the money was poorly spent. This is the sunk-cost fallacy, and it affects parents as much as it affects investors.
A tutor should solve a clearly identified learning problem. A tutor should not be used as an insurance policy against parental anxiety.
The emotional cost can be larger than the financial one. When a child hears repeatedly that she cannot cope without tuition, she may begin to see dependence as a fact about her identity. That is a poor lesson to teach at the age when she should be developing confidence in her own ability to learn.
How I would decide in a real family
I would not begin by asking how many classmates attend tuition. I would sit with the child and look at actual work.
- Review the last three tests. Look at the errors. Are they conceptual, careless, language-related or caused by incomplete preparation?
- Ask the child to explain one difficult chapter. Do not ask whether she “knows” it. Ask her to teach it back in her own words.
- Check the basics. If the child cannot perform earlier foundational tasks, repair those first.
- Speak to the school teacher. Ask for a candid view of the child’s strengths and gaps, rather than a generic recommendation to join coaching.
- Try a limited intervention. A few sessions for a defined topic are better than signing up for a year without knowing whether the teacher helps.
- Measure the result. After four or six weeks, is the child making fewer errors and working more independently? If not, change the approach.
The final step is often skipped. Once a tuition fee is paid, the family assumes the solution is in place. It may not be. A tutor who does not improve understanding, confidence or independent work is not earning the fee, however popular the class may be.
What parents can do at home
Parents do not need to become subject experts. They do need to create conditions in which learning can happen.
A fixed study time helps. So does a quiet place, a realistic weekly plan and a rule that the child attempts a problem before asking for the solution. Parents can ask, “What did you understand today?” rather than, “How many hours did you study?” They can look at mistakes without turning every error into a moral failure.
I would also encourage children to use good free resources carefully. The internet contains excellent explanations, but it also contains endless distraction. A low-cost computer or phone is useful only when the child has a clear question and a limited task. Watching ten explanation videos is not the same as learning the chapter.
For parents considering alternatives to the conventional school path, I have written about NIOS and CBSE for Class 10 and about the legal position on homeschooling in India. These are not prescriptions for every family. They are reminders that the standard route is not the only route, and that education should be designed around the child rather than around social habit.
Marks matter, but they are not the whole child
I know the practical argument. Class 10 marks can affect subject choices, school admissions and parental expectations. A student who wants a particular academic path may need to prepare seriously. I would never tell a child to be casual about an examination that matters to her future plans.
But seriousness is not the same as panic. A child can work hard without being placed on a conveyor belt of classes. In fact, the ability to work consistently without constant supervision may be more valuable than an extra five marks obtained through endless coaching.
Education is supposed to increase a child’s capacity to learn. If the process produces a student who can score well only when a tutor supplies the schedule, questions, notes and answers, we have achieved a narrow result at a high price.
My own instinct, as a doctor and an investor, is to begin with diagnosis. What is the problem? What evidence do we have? What is the smallest intervention likely to help? How will we know whether it worked?
That is a better approach than buying the largest package offered by the nearest coaching centre.
I would be especially cautious if a Class 10 child is attending tuition for every subject, sleeping late, losing interest in reading and becoming frightened of ordinary mistakes. In that situation, my first prescription would not be another class. It would be one quiet evening, a proper conversation, and a careful look at what the child is actually struggling with.
My daughter—or any child entrusted to me—would not be sent to tuition because all the other children are going. She would go only when we could name the problem, identify the teacher who could help, and agree on what improvement would look like. Otherwise, I would rather protect her time and teach her the more difficult lesson: she is capable of learning without renting someone else’s confidence.