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The Creative Collection of the Budding Writers

Do Tutorial Schools Really

Do More Harm Than Good?

5A Renne Wong Wai Sum

The motion of today’s debate is ‘tutorial schools do more harm than good.’
Many parents suggest their children join tutorial schools. If tutorial schools really
do more harm than good, how come so many students are taking courses there?
Therefore, I think tutorial schools do more good than harm. There are three reasons
to support my argument.
Firstly, tutorial schools teach more
examination skills. As the main target
customers of tutorial schools are
senior secondary students who will
be sitting for the HKDSE, most tutorial
schools focus on teaching examination
skills and strategies to help them obtain
higher marks in the public examination.
For instance, they teach students how
to politely interrupt someone who has
spoken for a long time during the oral
examination. Moreover, they teach
students how to use a variety of sentence patterns when writing different text types.
According to a survey conducted by The University of Hong Kong in 2008, more
than 50% of the respondents joining tutorial schools reported that the strategies
taught were useful and could help them to get higher marks easily.
Secondly, the tutors in tutorial schools are all professional teachers with high
qualifications. Many have master degrees and some even have doctoral degrees.
Their qualifications can ensure the quality of their teaching. Also, the tutors spend a
lot of time analysing past papers so as to help students who will sit for the HKDSE. I
am sure you have heard of tutors predicting successfully the questions or the topics
tested in the exams. Students who attended their classes could therefore do better
in the public exam as they were well-prepared.

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