FAQs

About Us

  • Founded in 2020, Rakan Tutor is a non-profit organisation that aims to provide free 1-to-1 tutoring to underserved secondary school students in Malaysia to equip them with the skills and confidence to perform better academically.
  • This initiative was kickstarted as a result of the pandemic which has exacerbated the existing learning inequality issue in Malaysia.
  • Over the last year, our tutoring programme has received positive feedback across 500 of our tutees and volunteer tutors, with our 9000 hours of tutoring! Find out more about our impact and story!
  • We are a group of passionate Malaysian youths (students and young professionals) fighting educational inequality
  • We come from very diverse backgrounds, you can find our profiles here

General

  • You will tutor 1 SPM student and will teach Mathematics. You will help him/her catch up on the lost learning due to the pandemic
  • Currently, our scope only covers Mathematics. However, we may expand this to more subjects in the future. Do drop us a note here if you would like us to get in touch when we offer other subjects
  • This varies by student preference. We will match tutor and students based on their language preference so please state your language preference in the application form
  • No. This program is entirely voluntary
  • Yes, being online means we can match students with tutors who are abroad. However, please be aware of the time zone difference and schedule your tutoring sessions accordingly
  • Currently, we intend to allocate 1 tutor to 1 student as this allows the tutor to tailor the session to the individual student. However, if you are interested in tutoring more than 1 student, please select this option in the application form
  • Rakan Tutor team will provide tutors with Mathematics resources, where tutors are encouraged to provide support for the students in attempting them. Tutors are not expected to replace the role of a teacher and teach all  topics from scratch
  • Logistically, tutors should independently take the initiative to arrange the classes for their tutees, be it on Zoom, Google Meet, or even just answering questions through Whatsapp or Telegram, depending on the tutees’ access to data and bandwidth
  • Yes. The tutoring sessions will only be online, on a platform that is suitable for you and your student (e.g. Zoom, Google Meet, or even just answering questions through Whatsapp or Telegram, depending on the tutees’ access to data and bandwidth)

Application

  • Please fill up the application form and our team will be in touch with you
  • Application closes on 11th July 23:59 and will be reviewed on a rolling basis
  • A Tutor Lead is a unique opportunity for you to manage a support group of 6-10 tutors, while having the support and oversight of one of Rakan Tutor’s core team
  • We are only selecting 30 volunteers to be a Tutor Lead
  • In order to be eligible for this, you must 
    1. Be able to begin tutoring from 19th July and commit for a minimum of 4 months
    2. Be willing to organise socials for your support group 
    3. Be the key point of contact between Rakan Tutor’s core team and your support group 
    4. Be flexible and willing to provide feedback to Rakan Tutor

Eligibility

  • You have completed and scored above an A- in SPM Mathematics (or equivalent e.g. IGCSE)
  • If you scored below an A- in SPM Mathematics (or equivalent) but have since received an A in a more advanced degree (e.g. A-Levels or university), you will be eligible to volunteer
  • You are able to volunteer for a minimum of 2 hours a week for a minimum of 4 months (Tutor Lead) or 3 months (Tutor)
  • You have a demonstrated desire to support underserved SPM students
  • Sure, as long as you meet all of the other eligibility criteria listed
  • Sure, as long as you meet all of the other eligibility criteria listed
  • No you do not. Don’t worry if you lack tutoring experience, we will be here to support you! Rakan Tutor will organise training sessions for all our tutors, and we will have support groups for tutors to network and help one another

Commitment

  • We ask that you commit to teach a minimum of 2 hours a week for 3 or more months (from 19th July for a Tutor lead and 16th August for a Tutor). However, given that SPM is postponed this year, we will prioritise selecting tutors who can volunteer for a longer duration
  • We also suggest that you spend some time tutorial planning to make your lessons as successful as possible. We have developed a resource repository for SPM Math so you are not left alone!
  • The minimum duration is for 3 months, from 16th August to 16th November
  • Unfortunately if you cannot commit for 3 months, you will not be eligible to volunteer
  • You would need to contact your Tutor Lead and provide a valid reason for dropping out. We highly encourage you to ensure that you can commit to the minimum duration before applying

Training

  • Yes, we have mandatory training sessions for our tutors. Do not worry about the syllabus as we’re here to guide you along the way
  • Our team has prepared a resource repository which includes textbooks, syllabus, worksheets, exam prep, mark schemes for SPM Math. However, feel free to prepare or use other additional materials whenever you see fit

Others

  • Unfortunately no. All volunteers, including tutors are expected to volunteer with the best interest of providing free and accessible tutor services to our students

If you have any further questions, please email team@rakantutor.org and we will do our best to help!​