Ask seven things before paying. Who teaches the sessions, and what did they study? Are classes live or recorded? What does the child build in month one? What's the total cost, including any kit? How big is the class? What happens when a project fails? Is there a free or refundable first session? A programme that's confident in its teaching answers all seven plainly.
1. Who actually teaches the class
Marketing usually describes the institution. What decides whether your child learns anything is the person on the call every week. Ask directly: who teaches the sessions, and what did they study? An engineer teaching engineering is very different from a coordinator delivering a licensed curriculum, and Sri Lanka has both.
You can check this. A named instructor with a named degree from a named university takes a few minutes to verify. A claim about 'expert instructors' can't be checked at all.
2. Live or recorded
Recorded content costs much less to deliver, but it's often priced as if it didn't. For children under 14 this makes a big difference, because most of the useful teaching happens when someone catches a child's wrong idea in the moment.
If the sessions are live, ask what happens when your child misses one. A recording is a reasonable answer. If there's no answer at all, the sessions may be less live than they sound.
3. What gets built in the first month
A programme that knows what it's doing can tell you exactly what a child will have made four weeks in. A vague answer here is the clearest warning sign, because it usually means the first month is software tours and theory.
4. Total cost, including the kit
In Sri Lanka the course fee often isn't the whole cost. Hardware kits, and sometimes software licences, can add more than the tuition. Ask for the total a family ends up paying over the full programme, and ask whether you keep the kit afterwards.
Ask about instalments too. Allowing them doesn't automatically make a programme better. But if they insist on the full fee up front, before any teaching has happened, take a second look.
5. Class size
There's no single right number, but it's worth asking how many children are in a live session, and whether a child can ask a question during it. A live class of sixty is really a broadcast. The answer also tells you whether anyone will notice if your child stops taking part.
6. What happens when a project fails
Ask it in those words. The answer shows you whether a class teaches engineering or just runs demonstrations. In this subject, things going wrong is what children learn from. If a programme hasn't thought about what to do when a child's project doesn't work, it hasn't thought about teaching.
7. Is there a free or refundable first session
This one is mostly about confidence. A programme that lets you see a real session before you commit expects the session to sell itself. It also lets you check what no brochure can tell you: whether your child can keep up with the pace, whether the instructor is any good with children, and whether the technology works on your connection.
A note on online versus in person
Outside Colombo and a few larger towns, most families don't get to compare online and in-person classes of the same quality. For most of Sri Lanka, the real choice is between an online class and no specialist class within reasonable travel.
Where both really are available, the questions above matter far more than the format. A good live online class beats a mediocre local one, and a good local class beats a mediocre online one.
Related questions
How much should a kids' robotics class cost in Sri Lanka?
Prices vary a lot. The figure that matters is the total over the whole programme, including any hardware, rather than the monthly fee. Ask for that total in writing before enrolling. kidslab.lk charges LKR 5,000 for the full three months, payable in instalments.
Are online robotics classes effective for children?
Live online classes work well for this age group, as long as the sessions are really live, the group is small enough for a child to ask questions, and the child actually works with hardware or a simulation. In our experience, recorded-video courses work less well for under-14s.
What equipment does my child need?
At minimum, a laptop or desktop (the programming tools are awkward on a phone) and an internet connection at home. Whether you need a hardware kit, and who pays for it, depends on the programme. Check before you enrol.
See a real session before deciding
kidslab.lk runs a free introductory seminar for children aged 9–14, live online across Sri Lanka. No obligation to enrol — it exists so you can answer most of the questions above for yourself. Where children join from.
Register for the free seminar →More guides
What is an AI class for kids, and what happens in one?
What an AI class for children aged 9–14 involves week to week, how to tell a real one from computer literacy with AI in the title, and what it should cost.
At what age should a child start learning AI?
Most children can start learning real AI ideas around age 9. What that looks like at each age from 5 to 15, and the signs it's worth waiting a year.
Should my child learn robotics or coding first?
Robotics suits kids who need to see a result. Coding suits those happy with results on a screen. How to tell which yours is, and why order matters less.
What does a child actually learn in an AI class?
What a child aged 9 to 14 really takes away from a good AI class, what's realistic in three months, and what isn't.