'After-gaokao economy' heats up
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E-mail China Daily, June 17, 2016
As more than nine million students finish taking the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, they now become the target of businessmen and the so-called "after-gaokao economy".
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Students attend a cram school in Beijing's Changping district. (File Photo: China Daily / Wang Jing) |
Cram schools charge up to US$45,630
Cram schools begin to snatch gaokao students who are unsatisfied with their exam score and want to get better marks.
A teacher, surnamed Zhang, at a famous institute in Beijing, said that they will set up more than a dozen review classes this year and place students in basic, advance or key classes based on their exam scores.
"Though we place them in different classes, the tuition fees are same at about 70,000 yuan ($10,647) a year including accommodation," said Zhang.
A teacher, surnamed Hao, in another cram school said that they have 20 years of experience in running review classes. About 50 percent of their students have got admission in first-class universities in recent years.
They charge more than 60,000 yuan a year in tuition fee and for some students who require one-to-one class the fee goes up to 300,000 yuan ($45,630).
Driving schools see rush of students a week after exam
Unlike students who want to bet their future on a carefully selected cram school, some focus on improving their social skills.
Media reports show that driving schools across the country embrace a wave of student applicants who are attracted by schools' preferential policies.
An employee at a driving school in Haidian district of Beijing said that they launched a summer course for students. If they apply for the class in a group of five or above, they will have to pay just 3,400 yuan, nearly 1,000 yuan lower than the normal market price.
A driving school in Nanchang, East China's Jiangxi province, also offers students promotions such as lowering the fees by 200 yuan if they show the admission ticket for national college entrance exam and exempting top scorers from tuition fee.
"The promotions work well," said an employee in charge of recruitment. "More than a hundred students apply for the class one week after the exam."
After exam, students travel abroad to relax
"Every summer vacation, the number of students heading overseas for travel increases 10 to 20 percent," said Xu Xiaolei, Chief Brand Officer of Aoyou.com, an online-booking website under China Youth Travel Service Co.
According to Xu, a study conducted by the website shows that most students prefer Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and other southeast Asian countries. The travel cost usually ranges from thousand yuan to 10,000 yuan, but some goes up to more than 100,000 yuan.
An employee at Chinese travel agency Caissa said they see a peak in number of students traveling overseas after national college entrance exam every year. Except short line tours for South Korea, Japan and Thailand, the long line tours for Europe and North America are also popular.
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