I was appointed residential tutor to Ajay, a child whose rebellious nature had affected his studies. 

It soon became apparent to me that it was not Ajay’s intelligence that was the problem – he is very bright; it was his rebellious attitude. 

I discovered that there was virtually a civil war between him and his parents and his way of waging war was to fail in his exams. I had to change Ajay’s character, not his work ethic. I set upon this very surreptitiously at first as I soon discovered that he had had various tutors and online learning previously, all of which had apparently failed, probably because they did not get to the root of the problem. And they couldn't because they didn't spend sufficient time with him to understand the situation.

Over time I managed to persuade Ajay that his parents were not the ogres that he thought they were, but kind, loving people whose sole desire was that Ajay should grow up into a fine, successful young man. It appeared that they had gone about it the wrong way. Ironically, they thought online tutoring would save time, but he really needed the full attention of a residential tutor.

Fortunately, during the three months that I was Ajay’s tutor, his parents had very little to do with him – he was left almost exclusively in my charge, which was very helpful for me, as I was able to work with him without the interference of his parents. 

Slowly Ajay came to trust me and be persuaded by me.  After about two months, all of which time we spent together, studying a little, but also playing squash, going on long hikes up hills and having fun together, I managed to change Ajay’s attitude towards his parents. Hostilities ceased. Happiness and calm were restored to the family and I understand from speaking to his parents since that Ajay is thriving at school. In fact he is near the top of his class. In short, he is a different boy. KG