Seeking fortune and fame? Then be a teacher ...
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HE has a following of several million teenage fans, earns up to US$45,000 a month from his online videos, and is often recognized on the street. But Liu Jie is no pop star — he’s a high school physics tutor.
Liu belongs to a growing group of educators feeding the country’s insatiable demand for after school online study.
The industry is fueled by China’s vast number of Internet users — the most in the world — combined with the annual university entrance exam, which decides the fate of millions.
The two-day gaokao began yesterday, with police cordoning off streets to ensure silence for students.
“Because the gaokao is such a huge deal in China ... that’s where the main demand is,” said Liu, fresh from recording a lecture on static electricity.
Liu was a private tutor before he began filming lessons for an online platform that sells them to eager students.
His page on the platform shows a graduation certificate from China’s top science university, while adverts of him appearing pensive appear elsewhere online.
“Often people recognize me on the street, a parent recognized me just now,” Liu said. “Students will often pursue a teacher like they pursue celebrities.”
When he reached the limit of 5,000 friends on social media platform Wechat, he added another account which quickly gained 3,000 more, mostly parents and students.
The almost unlimited size of an online classroom means top teachers can earn a fortune.
Liu whips out his phone, using the calculator to show how even relatively low fees of around 250 yuan (US$38) per class can generate sums in the tens of thousands.
He can earn up to 300,000 yuan a month ahead of the exam, he said, generating an annual income of about 2.8 million yuan — more than 30 times the wage of a high school teacher in Beijing.
“I didn’t think I could make so much money, it’s totally unexpected,” he said. “Teaching has always been seen as a poor profession.”
China has long had the world’s largest number of Internet users — now more than 650 million on the mainland — but the rise of smartphones has pushed online courses into the mainstream.
Reports of teachers making millions each year from such courses showed online teaching is “in the ascendent,” said Xiong Bingqi, vice president of independent think tank 21st Century Education in Shanghai.
“Teachers earning more than other online celebrities shows their abilities and the choices of consumers,” he said.
Ahead of the gaokao, high-school students study from soon after dawn to well beyond sunset.
In 2012, the nation was shocked when it emerged that one school had provided students with intravenous drips of amino acids to give them strength to continue working.
Cao Wei, an online mathematics tutor, begins live-streaming his classes at 11pm, often to an audience of several thousand.
“I’ve shed more than seven pounds in the last two months,” he said of his late-night schedule.
But he can earn 80,000 yuan each month catering to teenagers drawn to his straightforward approach.
“He’s different than teachers at school. They are often long-winded, Cao is more simple,” 17-year-old high school student Li Jiayao said. “I am his loyal fan.”
Celebrity teachers are not unique to the Chinese mainland. Hong Kong is home to TV “tutor kings” and “queens” who rake in huge sums.
In South Korea, online tutors can earn as much as US$8 million a year.
But as the popularity of online tutoring soars in China, authorities seem concerned that teachers may abandon the classroom for greener pastures online.
An education ministry official said in March that teachers moving to Internet education might “affect their ordinary classes,” but such moves would not be banned.
Liu said he must keep his material fresh to maintain his following. “If you’re not active for a couple of weeks, people will quickly forget you. It’s very similar to being a celebrity.”
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