Can you imagine teachers having the same status as movie stars? Thought not.
The article is basically about famous tutors in Hong Kong who are pretty much regarded as celebrities, rolling in millions because they're clever and improve people's grades at school.
If you've been to Hong Kong, you'll have seen it everywhere. Tutors are one of the biggest things in Hong Kong, their faces are literally everywhere, on gigantic billboards, on the sides of buses, in shop windows - you name it. It's ridiculous how much of a cultural difference there is compared to here, teachers here don't (or rarely even) become millionaires. It's the competitiveness of getting a place at university over there that creates so much pressure on the need for good grades and naturally, if school isn't doing it for your kid, you'd employ a tutor to help them improve on top of normal schooling.
But besides being smart, these people are judged for their appearances too. If you're clever and good looking, you're more likely to be employed (or wanted) by students. I think this attractiveness thing is universal when it comes to employment anywhere, studies have shown that you're more likely to be hired if you're attractive (of course, this isn't the right way to do things nor is it fair but hey, we're all human).
I'm just laughing at how these teachers don't dress like teachers. The article says they all wear designer wear and if you saw them in the street you'd think they were rich business men/women not tutors. Teachers being treated like celebrities is quite an amazing thing in my opinion, it's not something I see everywhere. I remember when I heard about making tons of money in Hong Kong and how I should become an English teacher over there (English is really valued in HK, if you speak both fluently, you're really highly valued over there - hint hint to those BBC/ABC/CBCs out there), my initial reaction was that I couldn't believe a teacher could have the potential to earn millions. But after witnessing the pressure of studying, the high demand for tuition on top of schooling and the emphasis and competitiveness of landing a place in a HK based university - I can see why people would be willing to pay so much for some super clever tutor to come and help. Although I don't entirely agree with the celebrity status awarded to such people, I'd rather see these people become rich and famous rather than some other Z-list celebrities these days (or the majority of "celebrities" out there today, in fact).
But at the same time, I really don't like this idea of glamorising teaching, sure they should get paid, but maybe not millions and as for celebrity status - I don't know. Teaching pupils should be a rewarding thing but being able to earn so much money from it might pollute some minds of tutors who might just end up 'doing-it-for-the-money' and forget about the purpose of teaching. I mean, can you imagine sending one of these glamorised, multi-millionaire tutors over to Uganda to teach children in poverty for no pay? The meaning of teaching should be the same worldwide but the purpose and motivation is being corrupted by money.
In the end, tutors being a big thing in HK (and other places in Asia - the article mentions a few places but HK is where I've witnessed it the most) is pretty much no different than plastic surgery being a big thing in South Korea - one emphasises the importance of education, the other emphasises the importance of having double eyelids, higher nose bridges and larger foreheads.
You guys can read this article here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20085558
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