After only a single nine-week period of operation, the high school peer tutoring program has come to an end. The official reasoning was the lack of student usage, but was this really enough to kill the program?

Peer tutoring was a new initiative that began with the third nine weeks. Rather than meeting with teachers in the library for tutoring, students had the option of being tutored by student volunteers in chosen subject areas.

The program was running on a trial period, and due to a low turnout, it didn’t survive even a single semester before being shut down. I was a peer tutor myself, and I can attest that- at least during 3rd period- students flocked to the math tutoring table rather than the peer tutoring station day after day. There were a number of students that came to the peer tutoring table on a semi-regular basis, and most of them genuinely wanted the help, but they were vastly outnumbered by students who chose to be tutored by the available teachers.

But here’s my question: Why put an end to the program when the peer tutors were volunteers?

The peer tutors were volunteering during one of their study hall periods. If no students came down to receive tutoring, then the peer tutors were only missing a study hall. No essential educational time was lost.

The school should find ways to utilize students who are willing to volunteer their time to to help other students.

One way could be using peer tutors as a resource for counselors. Students on academic probation could be assigned to work with a peer tutor rather than a specific teacher, giving the tutors guaranteed service hours and relieving the strain from teachers.

If the peer tutors are still willing to take time out of their school day to help their classmates for volunteer hours, I see no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to do that. While they can do that on their own time, having it organized by the school gives it reach and legitimacy that the volunteers simply can’t achieve on their own.