Cram schools in Hong Kong

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Cram schools in Hong Kong are referred to as Tutorial schools (traditional Chinese: 補習社 Jyutping: bou2 zaap6 se5). According to the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong, a third of secondary school students went for private tutoring in the 2004-05 school year, spending a total of HK$18.9 million per month.^[1]The whole industry is estimated to be worth more than HK$400 million.^[2]

Tutors in Hong Kong are often promoted as "stars", for their personal charisma as well as their academic qualifications. They can be seen on billboards, full-page newspaper ads and TV screens in railway stations or on buses. Some of them have their own teams of stylists, fashion designers and photographers, as well as personal Web sites.^[1]The most successful of them have an annual salary of HK$10 million.^[2] Some of the tutors, or "presenters", are model-turned.^[1][3]

The tutorial schools in Hong Kong focus on the two major local public examinations, namely HKCEE and HKALE. They teach students the techniques of answering questions in the examinations, as well as providing students tips on which topics may appear on the coming examination.

[edit] Controversies

In May 2008, the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong stepped in to investigate allegations of buying of HKCEE examination papers, and that K. Oten of Modern Education had sent out an analysis the current year's paper to examination candidates by text message during the exam. His employers immediately distanced themselves, saying he had been terminated^[4]

[edit] References