It’s common for students all over the world to attend tutoring lessons who aim to improve their grades or their understanding of various concepts. A study shows that the majority of students who take part in tutorial classes in Hong Kong spot improvements regarding their academic results. However, with the increasing popularity of tutorial classes, especially in Asia, tutorial centres have and are still continuously popping up around Hong Kong. The cases of students attending tutorial lessons four times a week is a common phenomenon. The same study aforementioned states that the number of students attending tutorial lessons is 2.7 times compared to those who are not.
The growing demand of tutorial lessons for students also lead to larger class sizes and along with the pandemic, many tutors incorporate technology into their lessons. They often record videos or hold live lessons so that a large number of students can attend their lessons. This not only maximizes the profit for the tutors as they could be earning tutoring fees from fifty + students at a time, but it also lowers the financial burden on the students and their parents, as lessons carried out by videos are usually cheaper.
So why do we call these tutorial classes in Hong Kong ‘cram’ classes?
The biggest difference between cram classes and tutorial classes in other countries is that, while those in other countries may be aimed towards helping their students achieve a better understanding of their learning materials, cram classes have a very specific goal: they specialize in training students to attain higher academic results and/or pass entrance exams. In Asia, where test-driven systems are highly implemented, the method of cram learning can easily be cultivated, as they more or less ensure the student can achieve their goal in a short period of time.
Cram courses may be attractive to goal-seeking students, but they come with their fair share of disadvantages.
Skill loss in the long run
Students who have attended cram classes before are familiar with the materials cram classes provide. These may involve notes with the instructors’ personal tips and explanations specifically targeted to answer common exam questions. Whilst this seems to be an effective method for students to improve within a short amount of time, it actually slows down their learning process.
When students become accustomed to the providence of answers by cram classes, they tend to memorise them without actually going through the process of constructing their own answers. As a result, their answers lack creativity and students will fail to gain skills including critical thinking, analysis and problem solving, in turn leading to negative impacts on their lives in the future. When these students attend college, there won't be any more tutors available to guide them through every essay and every project, as is the same with working. They may have more trouble coping and solving their own questions compared to other students as they lack the ability to look for answers, which should have been developed when they were younger.
Decline in physical and mental health
It’s perfectly normal for students to occasionally doze off in a lesson because they might have had a particularly tiring day, or pulled an all-nighter the night before. However, when students have to regularly take cram classes for hours after school ends, this tires them out rapidly. Quickly weighing out the options, many of them may feel like since cram classes seem to be more effective than school, and since anything taught at school will be repeated later on in cram classes anyways, they opt to dose off in class instead. This creates a serious problem; students begin to prioritize cram classes as their main source of education rather than the schools they actually attend.
Cram classes often assign homework and frequent tests for students, with cram classes of higher popularity and effectiveness implementing requirements such as entrance exams, or students having to pass all tests to remain in the classes. As a result, not only is there intense competition between students in school, but also in cram classes. The high achieving students manage to stay in cram classes of a higher level, while students that might actually need the extra help are left stranded, with fewer and less appealing options available.
Moreover, with increased competition and a packed schedule, there's hardly any room for Hong Kong students to breathe in between classes leading to higher stress levels and worsening mental health. It’s no news that Hong Kong students have an all time high stress level. In 2020, 52.2 percent of students' stress index reached seven or above on a scale of 1 to 10, and cram classes are, no doubt, a major contributor to this study.
Of course, other common side effects include the declining physical health of students. With so much time spent on tutorial lessons, there are naturally less opportunities for them to exercise and to participate in extracurricular activities. Moreover, since cram classes often clash with meal times, students may simply eat instant noodles or rice balls to deal with their hunger, and these malnutritious foods may even become one of their regular meals.
Tutorial lessons outside school are definitely necessary for us to achieve satisfactory results in school or the DSEs. However, students should learn to communicate with their parents and voice their learning needs before recklessly applying for famous tutorial classes and depending on rote learning methods enforced by these classes.
Sources:
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/158642/Secondary-school-students-are-facing-the-most-pressure-in-a-decade#:~:text=The%20Hong%20Kong%20Federation%20of,points%20higher%20than%20last%20year's.
Writer: Gaille Su
Editor: Bernice Lau
Artists: Jennifer Pun, Joyce Liang, Holly Liu
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