Lesson Policy

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Emma Academy wishes to ensure clarity so that everyone can have a positive experience connecting with teachers or language learners. We believe that our users are respectful and considerate of each other and we want to encourage this behaviour.

 

Below is an explanation of some of the situations you may face.

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• If there is a problem with the lesson, we ask both students and teachers to provide evidence in the form of screenshots (showing any relevant information including time and date). This will help us resolve the issue faster. 

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• Emma Academy receives payment from the student only once a lesson is successfully conducted guaranteeing that the teacher will be paid for the lesson conducted. If a student is late, we require that the teacher immediately contact your coordinator and inform and be available to teach for at least 30 minutes of the booked lesson time. However, teachers are not expected to make up lesson time lost due to student tardiness and are not required to continue the lesson beyond the official end time. This is a new requirement which clarifies the responsibilities of both parties. The principle is that once a student is allotted to the teacher, it is the teachers responsibility to ensure that the student comes for the lesson on time and if a certain behavior is not acceptable to the teacher, the teacher is to ensure that they tactfully corrects such behavior in the next lesson and ensure it does not happen again and keep your coordinator informed.

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• We don’t expect teachers to be on the video call waiting for the student to join. But you should be online and available so that when the student indicates he/she is ready to start the lesson, you’re ready to teach.

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• If you need to leave your computer to get a drink or stretch your legs while waiting, send the student a message and let them know that you’ll be back at your computer in a few minutes. If a student goes online during that time and expects the lesson to start, at least he/she knows to wait a moment for you to return. Otherwise, the student may think you’ve left and no longer wish to teach the lesson which may lead to confusion and / or a dispute.

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• It’s good practice to have these messages as they can serve as evidence if there’s a dispute.

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• We require teachers to connect with their students on the agreed communication platform before the lesson time. For example, there can be confusion or miscommunication about emails or user IDs.  By connecting before the lesson, both teachers and students can avoid problems during the scheduled lesson time. We hear of many instances like this which are easily avoidable, it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure there is no confusion.

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• If a student fails to attend a lesson and requests to reschedule the class, then it is the teacher's choice to agree or disagree. If the student had an accident, emergency, or an honest misunderstanding, we hope the teacher will allow the student to reschedule.

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• If there are any problems, we hope teachers and students can come to an agreement. If they are not able to reach an agreement, then they should contact Emma Academy.