Outsourcing Homework?

Greeshma Salin gives English lessons to her student Daniela. Salin stays in

Cochin, and gives English lessons to her student Daniela who resides in Malibu,

California. Looks like outsourcing jumped across another frontier. Salin is part

of a new wave of outsourcing to India: the tutoring of American students.

Twice a week for a month now, Salin has been tutoring Daniela in English

grammar, comprehension, and writing. Using a simulated whiteboard on their

computers, connected by the Internet, and a copy of Daniela's textbook in

front of her, she guides the teenager through the intricacies of nouns,

adjectives and verbs.

Daniela is one among a number of American students enrolled in Growing Stars,

an online tutoring service based in Fremont, California-but whose 38 teachers

are all in Cochin. They offer tutoring in mathematics and science, and recently

in English. Daniela's father had previously arranged for tuitions for his

daughters at home, who had been unhappy with the face-to-face tutoring. After

three months with Growing Stars, however, he said the girls' math skills had

already improved much. As a bonus, it cost a third of what he paid the home

tutor.

The driving factor in "homework outsourcing," as the practice is

known, is the cost. Companies like Growing Stars and Career Launcher India,

based in New Delhi, charge American students $20 an hour for personal tutoring,

compared with $50 or more charged by their American counterparts. A cultural

exchange of sorts is on, with the students in America learning about India,

while teachers there are getting updated on rap music and soccer.

Courtesy: The New York Times