“The Legend”, “The Specialist” and “The Emperor”…the “Big Bosses” of Private Lessons

Al-Emarat Al-Youm has monitored teachers resorting to giving themselves famous names, as a way to advertise themselves and show their distinction in the private lessons market, with the aim of attracting the largest possible number of students.

These titles include “Mathematics Legend,” “Physics Rocket,” “History King,” “Emperor of the Arabic Language,” “Dr. Chemistry,” “Professional Biology,” “Specialist,” and “British in English.” Meanwhile, advertising for private lessons has spread via email, WhatsApp, Viber, and BBM, sometimes including caricatures.

While the Abu Dhabi Education Council stressed that private lessons are illegal, students confirmed that teachers with titles are the most famous and most expensive in this field.

Student Abdulrahman Atef said that he booked with the “Mathematics Legend” before the start of the school year, due to the students’ demand to book with him.

He added, “The group includes eight students, each of whom pays 3,000 dirhams, and accordingly they get two lessons per week, while the exam night review lessons have a special account.”

Student Mohammed Saif pointed out that he participated in private lesson groups with “The Specialist” in English and “The King of History,” stressing their distinction in the way they explain and simplify the subjects.

Saif explained that the titles are not new, as they are known among students, and some of them do not give private lessons except to twelfth grade students, due to their extreme busyness and the high demand for them.

For his part, Ahmed Al-Amri, a school principal, attributed the private tutors’ adoption of pseudonyms to a desire to escape the law, which criminalizes the practice of private tutoring, describing those with famous names as big “superstars.”

He explained that most of them use the phones of their relatives and acquaintances who are not in the teaching profession, to escape punishment, because the law does not criminalize anyone who works in private lessons except for government teachers.

Hussein Yaqoub, an Islamic education teacher, called for criminalizing the giving of private lessons, especially since those who practice this activity, who come from outside the profession, do not have sufficient experience and are not familiar with modern teaching methods.

While monitoring the phenomenon of celebrities giving private lessons, “Emirates Today” contacted teachers with titles, and began with “Physics Rocket”, who confirmed that most groups are full, indicating that it is possible to set a separate appointment for the student, provided that his family bears the cost of the entire group with a good discount, so that the price of teaching the curriculum in a semester reaches approximately 12 thousand dirhams.

The “Emperor of the Arabic Language” stated that he had allocated four periods to teach Islamic education for free to students registered with him in Arabic language classes, noting that the students had given him this title more than 10 years ago, due to his mastery of the art of teaching.

The “Dr. of Chemistry” stated that he graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy, which is why he became known by this name, and that his love for the teaching profession is what prompted him to practice it, noting that the beginning was with the children of his colleagues, and through them he began to spread and receive calls from the families of students asking him to help their children.

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“Emarat Al Youm” obtained samples of some of the advertising messages that students receive on their phones and emails, which included some teachers’ willingness to teach more than one subject, and another advertisement about their willingness to teach university students, and to do research and assignments. The funniest advertisement was from a person with a diploma in English literature, who wanted to teach, as he reinforced his advertisement by revealing that he had experience in the field of security and safety.

The Ministry of Education had previously confirmed that it had taken several measures to combat private lessons, including opening reinforcement classes in public schools and circulating to educational districts to open reinforcement centers. It also established an ethical charter for teachers that prohibits them from private teaching, otherwise they will be considered in violation of the laws and the teacher’s code of honor. The Abu Dhabi Education Council stressed that private lessons are unethical and illegal, adding that schools are governed by regulations and laws that prevent attempts to profit from giving private lessons.

He added that the council’s new contracts prohibit teachers from giving students private lessons, and stipulate their dismissal if it is proven that they are private teachers.