Monday, April 30, 2007

Do I look angry to you??

Ok obviously this is not my picture (or is it??????????) but I am just as angry as this little guy! I have been long suffering with my 10 year old son's math tutor. She is actually the math teacher at his school (private school but not British or American..too expensive for me!) and tutors at night. She has never even demostrated to me that she knows Math and I highly doubt she has a teaching degree let alone a college degree..Ugh! This is an area where the Ministry of Education is beyond lax. Anyone can be a teacher in Kuwait without certification which is scary since any pedophile off the street can walk in and be in command of children (God forbid!) So, all the teachers over here ,or most at least, are simply housewives that can speak minimal English! Good grief!

Ok back to the story...she tutored my son every day for 3 hours for 7 months and he STILL only was able to manage to get 60% out of 100% which is a 'D' by American standards...on the brink of an 'F' on his last exams. So, I stopped sending him to be tutored. And apparently she is angry because she has been verbally abusing him in class. Today he did not know the answer so she made him stand in front of the class and told his classmates to yell 'Shame, shame' at him! Poor little guy! I am not seeing red rather I am seeing BLOOD!

BUT I am not sure what to do. I would like to rip her to shreds with my tongue and then lodge a complaint with the principal and then the Ministry of Education. But I am worried. My husband and I once complained about a teacher who kept calling my son "Stupid' and was pulling his hair when he was in first grade. The principal told her who complained. So she switched tactics. She denied him bathroom and water fountain passes. He came home a couple of times crying because his stomach hurt from holding his urine all day and the last straw came when he arrived home with pants soaked in urine from where he could not hold it any longer.

So if I complain to the school I know my kid will pay the price.

I guess I will sleep on it and give an update when I have one.

5 comments:

Carly said...

Hey,
I am a mother and a former teacher. What has happened to your child is inexcusable. I would home school my child before I let some incompetent 'teacher' berate him or her and cause serious damage to his or her self-esteem. Yikes! It makes me worry. We are moving to Kuwait this summer and putting our kids in ASK. Hang in there!

Sumi-Kuwait said...

Hi Carly,

ASK is a good school..so no worries. But I have 2 kids in school so I cannot afford to pay tuition for them both. So, I have been stuck with the Asian English schools. Anyway, I chatted with a neighbor last night and she recommended that I look into Indian English school in Kuwait because they have really good reps. So, I guess that is what I will be doing.

Yeah, I actually homeschooled my son for a year when he was abused in 1st grade. And then I went to put him in 2nd grad at his current school. They refused to put him in 2nd. So he had to do first all over and he lost a year. Ugh!

I am searching for contact info for the Ministry of Education and I am going to lodge a complaint about the school and teacher in question.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jewaira said...

That is just terrible! Complain and do not be afraid to name the school or the teachers who abuse your children.
Bad teachers can scar a student for life.

Little White Fish said...

Hi, I'm a Brit mother who's lived 9 years in Kuwait. I left for one year to the UK, but going back in September. I missed the MidEast too much, especially since my husband's Lebanese.

Anyway, I had a similar problem with my daughter's maths tutor. The tutor worked p/t at an Eng school and tutored on the side.

Little White Fish said...

Sorry, I presed publish too soon ...

We stopped the tutoring because she used oldfashioned methods that weren't working. A few months later, 'bintee', my daughter won a PE award at school and we went to her presentation ceremony. Afterwards, staff, students, and teachers had refreshments. Bintee's ex-tutor came to me and said 'what a nice plaque, but I've checked Bintee's maths grades and they're bad. She'll be going down a few sets next year.' I was shocked. She really ruined our happiness. She continued to be mean to Bintee and resentful towards us.

Anyway, I hope that all works out for you and your kids. Best wishes.