Mr. Sanjay Singh
Founder & Chief Counsellor, Brilliant Tutors Academy. Qualified in Education Technology and Child Psychology. Counselling students since 1994.
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Sanjay Singh started his career as a teacher and founded Brilliant Tutors Academy in Mumbai in 1994. Today he leads the free counselling session that every student has before a tutor is chosen. We asked him how he reads a student, why he does not believe in demo classes, and what parents get wrong about studying.
Someone once asked me what I do. I said: I teach students how to study, I train teachers how to impart knowledge, and I show parents how to bring out the best in their child.
In short: children struggle because they think studying is the same as learning, and because gaps in basic concepts make the current syllabus impossible to follow. The right tutor is the one who matches how a child learns. Marks follow knowledge, not the other way round.
Why did you start Brilliant Tutors Academy in 1994?
As a child, I was considered an average student. When someone explained a concept to me one-on-one, I understood it, but in the classroom I struggled. As I grew up, one thought stayed with me: there must be many students like me who cannot learn well in a group. Despite being bright, they get labelled “average”, and that label slowly takes away their confidence.
That is exactly why I began teaching students one-on-one. Teaching was my passion, and I started my career as a teacher. But I found that I could reach only a handful of students, because one teacher can teach only so many. That is how the idea of Brilliant Tutors Academy came to me. Even today, when I counsel students, I can relate to them, because I was once one of them.
What happens in the counselling session?
My main goal is to understand the student’s study pattern: their strengths, which we can polish, and their weaknesses, which we can work on. In the session I don’t only tell the student how to study. I also suggest to the parents how they can help their child reach their full potential.
What is the most common reason a child struggles?
The first is the wrong study pattern. Children think that studying is the same as learning, which is completely wrong. The second is a lack of basic concepts, for many reasons. When the basics are not clear, they cannot understand the current syllabus, even if they want to.
How do you decide which tutor is right for a child?
We know our teachers: their strengths and their shortcomings. In one counselling session, I found a student who was very inquisitive. He asked many questions, not only from the syllabus but from outside it too.
For him, my team chose a young, dynamic teacher who keeps up with what is happening around the world. This teacher was energetic and enthusiastic, so he was able to quench the student’s thirst. If we had appointed a senior, seasoned teacher, he might have stuck to the syllabus and made the child do things in a regimented way, which this child would have found off-putting.
Why don’t you hold demo classes?
Teaching is a process. A teacher takes a few days to understand a student’s learning style and speed. The student also takes time to understand the teacher’s way of teaching. Then they align with each other.
A demo class can be cosmetic, and you cannot really know a teacher from one class. Take advantage of our expertise in matching. And if we ever fail to provide the right teacher, we are ready to accept our mistake and provide another teacher.
Why did you build the BTA Connect app?
To bring transparency and involve parents in the entire process, and to make homework and testing regular and documented. Now we have a system in place where our team monitors everything and steps in whenever it is needed. See how the app works.
What should parents look for in a home tutor?
Compatibility. The teacher should match the student’s learning style. Teaching should be two-way communication. It should not be a teacher delivering a lecture while the student sits and listens. A student should not run away from the teacher; he should eagerly wait for him.
Home tuition or coaching class: which is better?
Both have their positives and negatives. Coaching classes work in a regimented way, which helps many students. There is a competitive atmosphere and discipline: if a test is scheduled for Sunday, it happens on Sunday and every student has to appear. In home tuition tests are also conducted, but because it is individual teaching, a student may ask to postpone a test, and teachers often agree.
In a coaching class, a teacher teaching Class 10 will assume the children know everything taught up to Class 9 and will start the Class 10 portion. In home tuition, the teacher assumes nothing. Before starting a Class 10 topic, he checks whether the basics behind it, from Classes 6 to 9, are clear. If not, he goes back and starts from scratch.
In a class, children often don’t ask questions because of peer pressure. In home tuition they can ask anything and everything. A class is one-way communication; home tuition is an interactive session, and learning happens through interaction.
Read our guide: Home tuition or coaching class for JEE/NEET?
What advice do you give every Class 10 and Class 12 student?
Don’t study from the examination point of view. Study from the knowledge point of view. Marks are a by-product of knowledge. And do a lot of writing practice.
What has changed most in how children study?
Nowadays children don’t write, which is not right. They rely heavily on technology, which has its positives and negatives.
Talk to us
Every student at Brilliant Tutors Academy starts with a free counselling session with Mr. Singh’s team. Call or WhatsApp 9819872773 to book one.
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