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Students flock to tutors for more than flashy image

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To attract more students, tutorial schools also highlight their instructors’ high academic qualifications in their marketing campaigns. For example, Stella Cheng, an English-language instructor, stresses her background as a solicitor and her excellent public examination results whereas some other tutors like Joseph Li, another popular English tutor, put emphasis on their publications.

However, Tong Chung-fan, the director of education research department of Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union , does not agree that private tutors are better than school teachers in qualification.
Mr Tong, who is also the vice principal of Queen’s College Old Boys’ Association Secondary School , said: “In our school, over one-third of the teachers have master’s degrees. Students don’t know that because we do not advertise it.”

Tutorial centres launch advertising campaigns because they run a business and have to earn money, he said. “Tutorial centres need to use any method to attract more students. But education is not a commodity. We cannot ‘sell’ it,” Mr Tong stressed.

The educator said students had to do their part and pay enough attention in order to understand their school lessons. Yet, he said it might be difficult for teachers to adjust their teaching methods to suit every student’s needs.
Despite that, he does not support school teachers to use their appearances to win students over.

However, the trend of stressing the image of the teaching profession has spread. In early September, Ying Wah Primary School produced a series of posters with photos of teachers, which look similar to tutorial centre advertisements, to build up a professional image of its teachers. The move was criticised by some parents and educators. When contacted by Varsity, the school declined to comment on the matter.

Li Wai-shing, who teaches economics at Physpot, a tutorial centre with three branches, said teachers and tutors had different teaching approaches because they played different roles. Instructors at private tutorial centres focus on coaching students in coping with examinations, Mr Li said.

Tutors are highly motivated to perform better by handsome money rewards, he said. “If they work harder, they will attract more students, and that means they will have higher incomes.” Tuition has become a possible career for university graduates. Lo Hiu-ying, who is studying language education, said she did not mind becoming a tutor in future. “I will see tutoring as one of my career paths,” Miss Lo said, adding that teaching in a tutorial school was also part of the education field.

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