Media

A critical review of private tutoring in HK By HKU Faculty of Education

25 Oct 2005

 

Private Tutoring, considered a shadow of our education system, deserves more attention than ever. It is believed that about 50% of primary and lower secondary pupils receive private tutoring and even higher at 70% for upper secondary school. In a recent report by the Consumer Council, complaints received against private tutoring centres have increased by 5 times, from 19 complaint cases in 2004 to 123 cases for the first 9 months this year. Believing that tutoring should be left to market forces, the Government however does not consider tutoring to be its main sphere of responsibility. The significance and role of private tutoring are questions to be answered by policy makers, parents and education providers.

Research conducted by HKU's Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Mark Bray, has critically evaluated the Government's current policies on tutoring with a comprehensive review of its scale, nature, impact on mainstream schooling and the society at large, as well as implications on social inequalities, household expenditure and children's self-esteem. Comparisons are also being drawn between Hong Kong, the Mainland and other countries in Europe, North America and Asia. Besides, "internet tutoring" has brought tutoring into a new dimension as service providers and users no longer need to stay at the same place, making it even more challenging to monitor or regulate.

Members of the press are cordially invited to attend the press briefing, as below:

Date: October 27, 2005 (Thursday)
Time: 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Venue: Room 218, Convocation Room, Main Building, HKU
Speaker: Professor Mark Bray, Dean of the Faculty of Education, HKU
Topic: "Private Tutoring: The Shadow Education System"
Medium: Cantonese and English

For media enquiries, please contact Ms. Cherry Cheung, Senior Press Officer, the University of Hong Kong (Tel: 2859-2606)