Critics have blamed the standard of school teachers for pushing thousands of students into private tutorial classes. If we had better teachers, they say, these private schools would not flourish.
This is a dangerous assumption: that private tutors are better educators than school teachers. Is it true? The police crackdown on one of Hong Kong's most popular tuition school chains last week indirectly exposed fallacies related to the so-called high standards of private tutors.
Seen by the students as a superstar tutor, and with English language as his best subject, 'Sze Sir' runs the tutorial school involved in last week's crackdown.
Because of his popularity, he charges students the highest rate, $650 a month, and is said to have more than 4,000 pupils.
He was asked by the English-speaking media to explain the reasons for failing to register his school promptly. 'I hope when we buy a flat, we can have lawyer to assist us,' he said. 'If we can have such consultant company or such consultants to help us to do this registration, I think we can do it well,' (sic).
The media were quick to detect the obvious grammatical errors 'Sze Sir' had made, though he is the man admired by thousands of students for his English skills.
So what is the secret to his getting so many students through public examinations? The answer is simple: he owes his success to Hong Kong's education system, an examination-driven system. Most tuition schools spend a lot of time teaching students examination techniques - how to answer questions to get good grades.