It is, almost, if not entirely impossible to generate the full salary of a
permanent full-time study skills tutor by charging students’ DSAs for
one to one tuition. One could attempt to ease the situation by
charging in the region of thirty two to thirty five pounds per hour if the
tuition is delivered using a combination of one to one and small groups
(possibly four or five). I must admit that I have only calculated this as
a paper exercise and not in practice, as I am still trying to persuade
the V.C.’s office to let me employ tutors.
Even if the process can be made to work on such a basis, I am aware
that some LEAs claim that these costs are too excessive and often
advise students to attend the local Dyslexia Institute, who around here
charge about eighteen pounds per hour. Interestingly though, when I
enquired with the department within the LEA that provides dyslexia
support in schools, I found that they themselves charge out at thirty
five pounds per hour. They want to charge the going rate but they
don’t want to pay it!
With regard to those institutions who maintain a list of people who will
provide support for about twenty pounds per hour, this concerns me
somewhat, for two reasons. First, it is impossible to manage the
quality and consistency of the provision. Second, the people offering
this service are at risk of being exploited: if they don’t work they don’t
get paid; they probably will not be in a pension scheme; and, they
cannot benefit from staff development programmes to keep
themselves informed about developments in the area (which has an
implication for the quality of their work). Should we assist our
institutions to encourage this form of employment practice?
It is my opinion that institutions must accept that in the delivery of their
educational programmes, they will have to bear some of the costs
involved with providing specialist services to, not only dyslexic
students, but to the whole range of students with disabilities. This
institution, like many others, provides overseas students with classes in
English and does not levy a separate charge to them. Ultimately, this
is an issue of quality, equality and at the end of the day, marketing.
Steve Metcalfe
Head of the Division of Assistive Resources and Technology
University of Lincolnshire & Humberside, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1482 440550 ext. 3300
Fax: +44 (0)1482 463610
EMail [log in to unmask]
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