Tuition is still very much an every day part of life for most students in Asia – Singapore, probably more than most. Even with the recent education reforms in the country, there is no slowing down after school tuition for students as young as those in primary school.
This is where startups like Tutopiya come in. Parents have the difficult task of having to find a tutor that they can trust, has the right experience, is a great teacher and can get along with their child. This can prove an almost impossible task that can be time consuming and expensive. Tutopiya aims to make this easier for you and remove some of the worries by providing a digital platform for live online tutoring – so this isn’t a marketplace for tutors.
We spoke to CEO, Nuha Ghouse to find out how her journey brought her to founding Tutopiya and how exactly it will improve the tuition industry for the better. As a former tutor herself, and a recipient of a first class honours degree from Imperial College, London, Nuha is ideally placed to speak about the education industry in Singapore and how her startup will change it.
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She is a parent of two young children and brings her passion for helping each of her children achieve their full potential into her startup. Besides her impressive education background, Nuha also has 5 years of working experience as a financial consultant for KPMG in the UK.
When she’s not in the office, you might find Nuha nose-deep in a book or travelling, but mostly spending time with her children.
Read more about her story below.
Sell us your company/service in 300 words?
Tutopiya is a live online tutoring service featuring only highly vetted qualified tutors.
Students from the ages of 8-18 sign up for regular personalized live individual lessons with a tutor in the comfort of their homes. Tutopiya currently operates in eight markets including Singapore, China, UAE, Australia and the United States. Tutopiya has students from many prestigious international and local schools.
Tutopiya differs from other online tutoring platforms that merely connect students and tutors. The emphasis at Tutopiya is to offer highly qualified tutors who have been rigorously vetted & comprehensively trained to teach online.
Tutopiya has a unique approach to training and delivering online tuition; making online tuition more effective and efficient. Vetting tutors is the most difficult factor to master when hiring a tutor for your child. Tutopiya is Singapore’s only online tutoring platform which does this for you including language and communication skills tests, in-depth skill reviews, and online teaching competency tests. By hiring only the top teaching talent, Tutopiya is an exclusive platform that has passionate tutors who have excelled academically and have had experience teaching in the Ministry of Education schools and International schools.
Tutopiya provides highly advanced virtual classrooms which have been developed in-house to provide consistently high teaching standards. All lessons are recorded for student’s revision and parental monitoring. Tutopiya has built the platform to include new features that provide instantaneous homework help capabilities – Simply take a photo, upload it and write on it with your tutor’s assistance.
Tutopiya focuses on making individual home tuition affordable and convenient. Tutopiya provides a free introductory individual 60 mins lesson for every student who signs up so they can experience the technology and teaching. Tutopiya’s rates are affordable starting at S$20 per hour and gives students the flexibility to select lesson frequency and duration – even as short as 30 mins!
What is stopping you from having the largest company in the world?
We are fortunate that our technology allows us to develop and deliver products with a business model that is highly scalable especially for overseas markets.
We are also fortunate to be based in Singapore, a country where the standards of education are one of the best in the world and highly sought after by other countries. Having said that, however, it is critical that we continue to hire the best people who can help us build and improve our business.
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If you could change one thing about the tech industry in Southeast Asia, what would it be?
Many tech companies in Southeast Asia focus on raising funds each year without focusing on growing sustainably. I wish there would be more accountability and responsibility. Tech start-ups should weigh the costs and risks of fundraising and innovation with the focus on growing sustainably.
Name one person in the region, who is making a difference in Technology?
There are many well-known people in the region who are making a difference in technology, but I have the privilege of working alongside many tech start-ups which are making big impacts in many industries. One of which is a credit financing platform called Rely.
Mohamed Abbas, Hizam Ismail, and Prakash R are the co-founders of Rely, a Fintech company that provides shoppers with an interest-free option for payment instalments during online shopping. They are making a difference by using technology to give spending power to those who would otherwise be ineligible in the normal banking system.
What would you want people to remember you for, 100 years from now?
I would like to be remembered for having made a difference to the standards of education worldwide – making it accessible and affordable for anyone from any part of the world to learn from passionate, qualified and trained tutors regardless of their location and resources.