Srinagar, Feb 06: To become familiar with COVID-19 and the job loss it unleashed, the young entrepreneur, Masrat Farooq has employed 80 tutors during the pandemic to provide home tuitions to more than 300 students.

Masrat says that she was only 25-years-old when the concept of providing home tuitions and hiring tutors came into her mind. “I started providing home tuitions to students in 2019 and that time only three students were enrolled for it,” she said,

Masrat says that back in 2019, she had limited tutors who used to visit the homes of students. “That very time, I had only three tutors.”

The 27-year-old Masrat said that she had only targeted to teach 20 students but in a very short span of time, she started providing home tuitions to over three dozen students. “In a week, the student enrolment abruptly reached 50.”

“With the positive feedback and response, I started publicizing the concept of home tuitions and named it Smart Classes Home Tuition.” She said,

Masrat said that with the increase and demand for more enrolment, she started hiring more tutors. “The way I was sending tutors to the home of the students with all preparations helped me to explore further areas and gradually the student enrolment across Srinagar city increased.”

In 2020, the enrolment of the students reached more than 100 and she accordingly hired more tutors.

“Currently, I have over 300 students and 80 tutors who are providing home tuitions to them,” Masrat said adding, “Most of the tutors who are working for Smart Classes Home Tuition were unemployed.”

She said, “Providing the home tuitions was not only aimed to earn bucks but to bridge the learning gap that was created during the pandemic. “It is not only me who is earning out of it but the tutors also. They earn a handsome amount.”

Masrat says that the tutors are earning a good amount and employing the unemployed was her dream from childhood.

She says that on average, one tutor is earning from Rs 40,000 to 50,000 per month.

“Up to 7th standard, female tutors are providing home tuitions and from 8th-12th standard, male tutors are providing home tuitions to the students,” she said.

“I pay my tutors Rs 7,000 per month to teach one student of 10th standard and they easily manage to teach seven students of different classes a day by visiting their respective homes,” Masrat said.

On asking as to how she managed to enrol over 300 students, Masrat said, “The parents of those wards who were receiving home tuitions from the tutors shared my contact with their relatives and colleagues and that was one of the main reasons for the rapid increase in providing home tuitions and also employing many unemployed youths.”

The founder of Smart Classes Home Tuition said that she is not teaching the students herself. “I overlook and manage the tutors and students. In smart classes’ home tuition, I work as an administrator.”

She said that initially she was providing home tuitions to the students of her locality only but now she is providing home tuitions to 300 students of different areas of Srinagar city except for the downtown area.

“In the downtown area, there is a low concept of home tuition and the parents are not well aware of the benefits of home tuition,” she said.

On asking about the continuity of providing home tuitions after the reopening of schools, Masrat said, “Not all the enrolled students need to continue to receive home tuitions.”

“If students would wish to continue the home tuitions, my male tutors will accordingly visit their homes in the morning and evening hours as the students would be busy in attending the regular classes,” she said.

Masrat has completed her bachelor’s degree from Government Women's Degree College Srinagar and masters’ degree from the University of Kashmir.

Earlier this year, Masrat was honoured by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha recently for achieving the rank of the best entrepreneur.

The young entrepreneur says that the concept of community schooling also inspired her to provide education to the students who were not able to attend the online classes during the closure of schools.

Pertinently, the government also had asked the concerned school authorities of the Kashmir division to commence with community schooling for the students who were not able to attend the online classes.

The School Education Department in this regard had issued the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to begin with the community schooling.

The department had also said that the initiative needs to be carried out with the active support of the local community without compromising on prescribed COVID-19 SOPs notified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government of Jammu and Kashmir from time to time.

Earlier this week, the School Education Department had said that in Kashmir valley, COVID-19 has left a huge learning gap among the school students at different levels.

The Directorate of School Education at Kashmir division has said, “Pandemic and lockdowns have reduced the offline interactions of students and teachers to a greater extent resulting in learning gaps among children.”