Why do I consider voluntary tutoring as a priority commitment?

I see tutoring as a way of restoring the confidence of pupils who are struggling or losing confidence. Although education systems are based on competitive values, I don't see success at school as a performance, but as the best tool for the emancipation of citizens.

What's important to me is to prevent pupils from dropping out of school because they might feel left behind or excluded by other, presumed superior, social groups. I'm in favor of raising awareness of everyone's intellectual capacities. If we manage to inspire a minimum level of confidence in all pupils, they can all master basic knowledge and naturally awaken a desire to learn, and this curiosity will surely follow them through their lives. It seems to me that the attraction or repulsion we feel for different types of knowledge is primarily based on the positive or negative experiences we have had at school. But failure or disinterest in school is never fatality.

Unfortunately, I have observed a lot of how schools (at least in France) are powerless to deal with the marginalization of groups considered unsuitable. Some pupils on the margins feed their own maladjustment by expressly playing their presupposed role with ill will (provocations, addictions, delinquency), a sign of obvious personal distress. Dropping out of school also plays a part in the disenchantment of the lower classes with the rest of society. This marginalization, backed up by the arrogance (whether conscious or not) of the more educated social classes, often fuels class resentments and hostilities that are difficult to break down. In this context, it's hardly surprising that communities of all kinds (social classes, politicized groups, ethnic groups, religions) withdraw into themselves.

I am convinced that extremist tendencies of all kinds (xenophobia, violence) are rooted in painful feelings of intellectual submission induced from childhood. An implicit submission that also leads young people towards career paths that are devalued, generating envy and denigration. But a job is never degrading in itself, it's the conditions of the job that can be, and that's what needs to be fought for. Awakening people's consciences and achieving this kind of social progress starts at school, by fighting against the resignation of pupils, so that they become aware of their value and their potential.

The boom in commercial tutoring is a clear sign that schools alone cannot instill confidence in all pupils. The antagonisms and distrust between social classes are only exacerbated if this support is provided exclusively to children from families who are financially wealthy or who have sufficient mastery of school subjects to provide this help themselves. That's why I believe that voluntary tutoring for modest families is a priority in an attempt to redress the balance, with the aim of contributing to the fulfillment of all children and future citizens.