YOUR correspondent commented in the South China Morning Post on October 13, that the Open Learning Institute (OLI) is not paying competitive rates to its part-time tutors. I am afraid he/she has not looked at the issue in the right perspective. The OLI's remuneration package is made up of a number of segregated items, some of these are related to actual contact hours with students and others to piece work such as the marking of scripts, attending training sessions, etc. In theory a part-time tutor who participates in a 10-credit year-long course, can earn as much as $24,736. The formula is as follows: Contact hours - $302 x 18, equals - $5,436; retainer - $150 x 10, equals - $1,500; marking scripts - $112 x 30 x 5, equals - $16,800; meeting fees - $200 x 5, equals - $1,000. Total - $24,736. The overall package, therefore, in our view, is in fact reasonably attractive and rightly reflects the OLI's high regard for tutor's contribution. One cannot draw simple comparison between the OLI and the conventional tertiary institutions. The OLI's admission policy, its mode of teaching and learning and its financial operation are all different. Its remuneration package for tutors and other staffis governed by the need to run a self-financed non-profit organisation, in contrast to the fully-funded universities and polytechnics. We will continue to pay competitive market rates that enable us to recruit the best tutors and be prudent as a business enterprise at the same time. ALEX WONG Head, Public Affairs Unit Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong
