This is a booming cottage industry in the US. You have to credit Indian firms for being bright enough to climb on board as quickly as our home-grown “mentors” — courtesy of a lousy education system and politicians who couldn’t care less.

India’s outsourcing industry, which usually covers services such as software programs, customer management and accounting for companies abroad and at home, has discovered a new market for its talents.

Employing part-timers and staff tutors, outsourcing firms believe they have tapped a potential goldmine in what they call “e-tutoring” or “e-mentoring”.

Educomp Datamatics Ltd….is one of a small clutch of players in the market and its staff teach mathematics to around 800 students in the United States.

The No Child Left Behind law has forced schools with high percentages of low-income students and low performance in the past few years to offer those students free tutoring or a bus ride to another school. But, someone has to pay for it. Since Congress and the President passed an unfunded mandate, it’s up to state and local taxpayers. Or parents who aren’t satisfied with what is offered, locally.

The firm has 20 math tutors, who work at night to bridge the 12-hour time gap between India and the United States, teaching students ranging from the sixth to 12th grades.

Educomp charges 20 dollars to 40 dollars an hour, according to the grade taught.

The teachers…are trained to speak with US accents and earn about 7,000 rupees (155 dollars) a month.

The profit margins ain’t bad, either.