This seems to be a pretty profitable business where I live.
I don't know what it is, but I have many friends who go to these places. They spend their mornings/afternoons at school, then spend their evenings and/or nights at tuition centres (or "academies" as they are commonly referred to here).
In case you don't know, a tuition centre is basically a kind of school. They tend not to have the kinds of facilities of proper schools. Needless to say, going to school and then going to a tuition centre is like going to school twice a day.
I know friends who have been doing this for years. It just makes no sense to me - what life do you have, at that point, outside of school? When you spend, quite literally, your entire day in a school-like setting, when do you get the time for hobbies? To learn things that aren't school? So on and so forth.
The other thing with this whole culture is that I have seen people prioritise the work/homework (yes, homework) of these tuition centres over regular school. This is something a student genuinely said: "Oh, I couldn't study for this test because I had a test at my academy" (translated, but to the same effect).
I suppose this works out if you take one, or two, subjects here. If you struggle in physics, then taking physics at a tuition centre is alright. No problem there. But everything? 8 subjects if you take IGCSE!
It could just be that these places utilize clever marketing. Parents here do care about grades - some more than others - and more often than not, it is parents that send their children to tuition centres. Something something being sold something you don't need.
Entire friend groups exist (in school!) that go to the same tuition centre!
I know that school is important (more so in underdeveloped places). But I swear, it isn't that important.
This article was written on 21/09/2023. If you have any thoughts, feel free to send me an email with them. Have a nice day!