Fathima Zuleyha Markar

On this week’s edition of ‘The Founder’ we feature Fathima Zuleyha Markar, a fourth-generation lawyer who gave up her legal career to pursue a career in teaching. She is the Founder and CEO of ‘The Tutory’ in Colombo. A graduate in Law, she holds a LLB (Hons) Degree from the University of London, and an Attorney’s at Law qualification from Law College, Sri Lanka. Prior to embarking on her own, she worked as a Junior Legal Consultant under President’s Counsel, Faisz Musthapha, and as a Junior Lawyer at Macon and Associates. She was also an adjunct Lecturer at Stansfield Law College, Singapore and at ITC School of Laws, Singapore. She also worked as a Legal Consultant at Speedoc, Singapore, prior to returning back to the island in 2019. From 2019 to 2020, she also worked as a Lecturer in Law at Royal Institute, Colombo, teaching Advanced Level students.

In your own words, what is ‘The Tutory?’ I founded the Tutory in 2013, where we offer one-to-one and group tutoring for a diverse portfolio of tertiary and higher educational programs. The Tutory is mostly known for its law component, through which we offer classes for future law professionals from internationally recognized British LLB qualifications, including the University of London LLB program, conducted by a qualified faculty of experienced tutors and practicing lawyers. We also host classes for Edexcel and Cambridge Advanced Level Law. However, at The Tutory, we also have our very own Ordinary Level and Advanced Level tutor panel for the three main curriculums offered in Sri Lanka: Edexcel, Cambridge, and the National Curriculum and the National Curriculum is taught in all three mediums: English, Sinhala, and Tamil. These teachers are committed to providing the best of their services to their students in order to ensure that they not only pass out with good results, but also get a good grasp of the subject that they have learnt.

More recently, the institute has expanded its horizons to cover all the years from Grade One onwards; again for all of the syllabi. We also offer tutoring in higher education and undergraduate level courses relevant to Economics, Business Management, Accounting, Finance, Mathematics, and even Social Sciences and English Literature taught by a highly qualified panel of lecturers. Although, at present all lessons are being instructed virtually, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Tutory has its own fully-equipped premises at Havelock Road, where it would otherwise conduct both one-on-one and group lessons on-site. For those residing outside of Colombo or abroad, virtual classes have always been made available; making it accessible to students who are unable to visit us in person while ensuring, from our end, that the quality of teaching and classroom experience is not compromised.

What was the journey like, starting from scratch and building the business up to where it is right now? Initially it was difficult to find teachers who were fully committed and who would make the classes interactive and engaging. It was difficult to find students as parents believed that tutoring was not necessary for the undergraduate level. The first batch got merits and credits and the subsequent batches included first classes, distinctions, credits and merits which served as a testimonial to the fact that the correct approach would enable students to thrive and reach their potential.

What were the hardships you faced as an entrepreneur and what was the toughest one yet? I wouldn’t use the word ‘hardship’ because every setback is a learning experience. The main challenge I’d say I’ve faced, is at the very beginning where I had to find qualified and experienced lecturers for the particular subjects we wanted to offer; those who could not just guarantee good results, but also as make the classes engaging and interactive for the students. At the time, people were also not very open to the idea of classes for undergraduate courses, and so we started off with only three students in our first batch. Over the past eight years, we’ve grown to a student body of over 150 students.

Being an entrepreneur, what was it like facing the global pandemic? How did it affect the business? The biggest challenge of the pandemic for us, was not being able to use our premises and interact with our students face-to-face. However, because we have always offered virtual classes for those students residing outside of Colombo and abroad (we currently also teach a number of students from other countries like Malaysia, Jamaica, the US, Pakistan, etc.), we were able to adjust to the pandemic fast, and switch to an online teaching mode. The fact that our lecturers were already acclimatized to conducting lessons online also made it an easy transition for our students who hadn’t studied virtually before.

Explain a few marketing strategies you have implemented, and what makes them successful?

We initially used word-of-mouth and WhatsApp to get our name across but we have now expanded to Instagram and Facebook.

How did you get the initial start-up capital? Self-finance.

What separates The Tutory from its competitors? What truly sets The Tutory apart is our unique approach to teaching; an instructional model that cultivates an interactive and engaging learning environment which caters to each student’s individual requirements and competencies. We maintain a standard 7:1 tutor-student ratio for group classes, so that each of our highly-certified members of faculty are able to provide individualized attention and even greater accessibility. Research has shown that students are able to retain more when given access to more dynamic classroom environment. At the end of the day, we don’t want to just help our students pass or get good grades; we want to foster a culture where learning can actually be an enjoyable experience.

Who are your role models?

Otara Gunewardene and my mom.

Why did you decide to enter this industry? At the time I was reading for my law degree, I found that there was not much of a support system in terms of extra classes for those who needed help, and so, when I did my final year, it was a real struggle to find any help, to the point where I couldn’t find any good teachers to teach me or even mark my answers. This was a problem my mum had as well when she did her degree many years before me. Hence, I felt that there was a need to provide the option of an organized extra tuition for university-level students who needed help, especially with their LLB.

Was your family supportive of your new venture?

My family have not just supported me, but have always been my main cheerleaders right from the start. Initially, I didn’t intend on teaching full-time or even teaching at all. My sister was tutoring a student and she asked, or should I say, pushed me to take over her student when she had to fly over for her graduation. When I did start teaching, I realized that I actually enjoyed it. I then bounced a few ideas by my parents and grandparents, and they pushed me to implement them. If it weren’t for their support, The Tutory, would have just remained a passing thought.