Tuitions have just gone online courtesy an NRI mother's initiative to help schoolchildren in the US and Canada who can, at the click of a mouse, now learn maths or English and finish their homework. Tutornext.com, the brainchild of Anu Bhave, an MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) graduate settled in the US, is a one-stop solution to all study woes faced by parents of schoolchildren. When faced with the problem of not being able to find a tutor for her child, Bhave created an online tutoring portal for children in the US and Canada.

Just over 100 days old, tutornext.com has more than 200 students registered in various age groups. With the teaching outsourced mostly to India, most tutors are from Bangalore, while some are from Hyderabad and New Delhi. The programme fees vary from $25 an hour to $75-100 a month.

Sanjeev Govindan, one of the four people who run the website, said: "Right now we are offering help only to people in the US and Canada because it's most difficult to get a tutor to come home and teach your child there.

"Moreover it's a very expensive affair. But we will soon be spreading our services to other parts of the world and to India as well."

In India, which does not have a dearth of tutors, the site may not gain the popularity it has in the other two countries, he added. More sought after for math tutoring than English, the site offers various programmes. For instance, there is a programme that gives students worksheets every week and an online session with a tutor. Both the tutor as well as the student can solve a math sum on the screen.

There is also a programme in which a student can get help to complete his homework. Besides helping him complete the assignment, the tutor - sitting miles away - also helps him understand the concepts. "The best thing about this concept is that a person does not have to abide by strict timings. You can choose to sit for a session in the comfort of your home, after a game of baseball or after dinner. But we have to know the time in advance so that the session is fixed with the same tutor," said Govindan.

Added Bhave: "I love what I do. I'm helping students reach their potential and enjoy learning, as well as giving some time back to busy parents along the way. What could be better than that?"