Math anxiety

Tutoring before the start of A-levels can be expensive

Klaudia Klarner from Lernquadrat sees a significant increase in pressure to perform

(Bild: Einöder Horst)

It's not entirely new or even surprising that mathematics is once again filling up the places in the local institutes that help students this year. Their business is doing very well again, especially before the upcoming Matura. Parents have to dig deep into their pockets.

It all starts on May 2: we're talking about the Matura. The day after the public holiday, the wave of exams begins with the central German Matura. But the real scary subject that makes students' knees shake all over the country only follows five days later: the infamous mathematics. "Around 90 percent of our tutoring students come for math," says Romana Dorfer from Schülerhilfe Schärding. At Lernquadrat Linz Taubenmarkt and Schülerhilfe Bad Ischl, maths is also the number one subject, followed at a considerable distance by accounting, German, English and other subjects.

Weeks of preparation
"Most of our school leavers have been preparing for weeks and are therefore in good spirits. The big nervousness usually comes at short notice, even if they are ready for the Matura," says Thomas Auinger, Head of Schülerhilfe Bad Ischl.

Longer-term contracts are the most popular: "Six months of twice 90 minutes per week costs 239 euros per month. The longer the contract, the cheaper it is," reports Auinger.

Fixed price or individual calculation
Romana Dorfer calculates that Schülerhilfe charges around 15 to 20 euros per 60 minutes. At Lernquadrat Linz Taubenmarkt, on the other hand, the price is calculated individually: "It depends entirely on the respective needs and how big the gaps are," explains head Klaudia Klarner.

Only a few places left
Here, as well as in the two Schülerhilfe institutes, there are hardly any places left before the Matura - that's how big the rush is now, in the last two weeks before the central Matura. Whether, as is often mentioned, the pressure to perform at school has increased in recent years is not easy to determine. "Although the material in math is actually getting less and less, the pressure to perform is already noticeable," say some.

"I am convinced that the pressure in our meritocracy is constantly increasing, and not just among school leavers," says Klaudia Klarner from Lernquadrat Taubenmarkt. "This certainly has its advantages, but many students are struggling with it."