Today we have the joy to present the good people of #tutorpool and their project, in their very own words. As the crisis deepens, and as the mainstream way of the neoliberal orthodoxy becomes a no-go for so many, alternative pathways are not just wishful thinking — they become a crucial necessity.

#tutorpool: network of volunteerism and solidarity for education

As crisis deepens in Greece, public education is no stranger to the fallout; continuously devalued in every way, with school units being shut down while those remaining function substandardly, Greece’s students literally have no books to learn from (academic year 2011-2012). Some schools closed while others merged, thereby constraining the efforts of teachers and students. To make it worse, teachers have absolutely no support in their efforts to teach a student body in a suffering nation: they are underpaid or not paid at all, placed to teach in overcrowded classes and, most importantly, they serve within a public education system that literately underestimates their role and knowledge.

For several decades, most families in Greece are forced to make up for the public education flaws by providing additional private courses to their children on their own expenses. Support from a “private tutor” is considered necessary in Greece, especially when referring to students preparing for University examinations. As parents’ salaries are more and more severely cut, beyond doubt, the idea of a society of equal opportunities in education is fading out. Understanding the gravity of the situation our future generations are facing, people decided that understanding is not enough; they had to do something, and this is how #tutorpool come into sight.

#tutorpool is an education solidarity network created by ordinary citizens living in an unordinary country in very unordinary times. Summer protests at Syntagma Square and other squares throughout the country fostered more than a profound sense of community and solidarity among citizens in Greece; friendships forged in the “square” gave way to solidarity initiatives.
#tutorpool began spontaneously in twitter after a discussion between few people and took less than a few hours to spread. That explains the use of the hash tag (#) before the name, to remind everyone that internet offers people the tools to meet, organize and work together. In less than a week, #tutorpool begun to take the form of a volunteer network, offering educational support to students whose families could not afford “coaching”. A group of volunteers managed to pull each of their skills together under the www.tutorpool.gr website and begun offering online and actual courses to students all over Greece, reaching as far as the isolated islands. At this point, less than two months later than the very first tweet, #tutorpool has more than 300 volunteer teachers, 102 students, and 205 courses offered throughout the country.
#tutorpool is an online platform that brings tutors, parents and students together. Anybody interested can subscribe in the platform to follow a course or create a new one. Teachers are responsible for the quality of education, while the parents are responsible for the overall monitoring of the process.  Lessons can take place at the student’s home, in groups as well as online (e-learning). Apart from ‘core’ school courses like maths and literature, the coordinators want to expand to courses of general interest like dance, web design, foreign languages etc.
It is important to understand that #tutorpool did not come to play as a way of making up for the shortcomings of public education. We do not want to take on the responsibility the state has towards our students and their families of offering quality public education without fostering the need for “coaching”. As citizens, we demand an equal opportunity educational system for all students, irrespective of their socioeconomic status, where an initiative such as #tutorpool would not even be a thought.
#tutorpool acts also as a forum where tutors, parents, students and any citizen interested are invited to share new ideas for the network and activities for the social and community benefit. This is badly needed in order to overcome the crisis of propagated fear, alienation and disappointment that has brought a culture to its knees.
Taking it a step further #tutorpool aims to become more than a tutoring network; it strives to build solidarity, one session at a time, one student at a time, one family at a time, one community at a time. Solidarity transcends borders; there are already volunteer tutors from Germany, Italy, Sweden and Spain among other countries. It is imperative for the message of solidarity to reach each and every neighborhood of the world.
To wind up, #tutorpool is not just a network of solidarity in education, but an effort to educate solidarity.

#tutorpool, Solidarity in education, educating solidarity

For more information you may send us an email at people@tutorpool.gr