And when it comes to the wealth of knowledge - the big money to be made from the pay-as-you-learn system of the tutorial school rather than a reference to a storehouse of scholarship - Hong Kong brain-booster Ken Ng Kam-lun has a thought worth pondering: "Now is the time for consolidation in our profession, when the weak will be struck down and the strong will stay and grow even bigger by absorbing students from others."

That line from the clever businessman-teacher known as "Ken Sir" is linked to his chase to sign on more youngsters seeking advancement by loading up with extra lessons at his Modern Education tutorial center.

One of the so-called "tutor kings" of Hong Kong, Ng is presently thinking hard on the benefits to be gained as a new senior secondary education curriculum intensifies the already fierce competition in the private tutoring sector.

Modern Education is understood to be planning to raise HK$800 million to expand its network - 17 branches developed over 23 years - by becoming the first tutorial center listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Learning is certainly a business with massive potential. Hong Kong's secondary student population in the last school year numbered 478,173. A majority can be expected, given the premium Hong Kong parents traditionally place on scholastic achievement, to seek help at tutorial centers at one time or another, for just one term or on a more permanent basis.

They are charged HK$100 per hour at the minimum for basic tuition on subjects like English language. The fee goes up, naturally, for some tutor kings, who draw top dollar for their uncanny ability to predict examination questions.

Many others go for tutoring at home. How many is anyone's guess. The taxman would certainly like to know who does the teaching and earning.

Just how much the overall industry is worth is also anyone's guess. Official estimates put the amount Hong Kong students spent on private tutorials at HK$300 million each month in 2004/2005.

Now driving new thinking about earnings potential for the tutorial centers is the "3-3-4" education system that was introduced in September. It means three years at junior secondary school, three at senior level instead of four, and then four at university.

There is also a revamped examination system. The Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination for secondary five students and the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination, taken at the end of secondary seven, will be replaced by the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination in 2012. That will be sat by secondary six students as the university entrance exam.

Exam anxiety

Ng, who refuses to confirm reports about an initial public offering by Modern Education but is ready to "consider any options that will benefit the company," sees prospects as brighter than ever despite the fact students will fret on one public exam instead of two.

For the current pyramid-style examination system - the number of classes decreases at the senior secondary level because of elimination through exams - is moving to one in which the number of students stays the same from secondary one through six. So more students will take the university entrance exam.

Ng believes those who fail to get into university at their first attempt will be more likely to try again rather than settling for lesser options like the Institute of Vocational Education.

He actually expects the number of students at tutorial centers to grow by double-digit figures as a result of the education reform.

King's Glory, Beacon College and Ever Learning are also powerhouses in the private tutorial field, and like Modern Education they are exploring more ways to secure top places in the transition to the new curriculum.

Beacon College, with 13 branches, is also considering going public even as it checks the feasibility of exporting its "colonial" English teaching style and celebrity tutors to the mainland.

Beacon College co-founder and English tutor king Richard Eng King- hang said the number of secondary five and seven students has increased by 10 to 15 percent this academic year because they know they only have one shot left as the last HKCEE and HKALE exams are being held in 2010 and 2012.

But he worries about secondary four numbers at tutoring centers because there is still a long way to go until such youngsters have to face the HKDSE.

"In fact, the Hong Kong tutorial market has reached saturation point," Eng said, "but we see huge potential in the mainland market. South of Guangzhou, many people are fascinated by the colonial English teaching style."

Mainland market

The mainland has yet to open up its tutorial market to Hong Kong among liberalization measures under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.

So Beacon College will partner with an established education group in the mainland and together they will launch English tutorial classes by next year amid a boom in the number of students and graduates taking international English language assessments such as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System).

Shenzhen will be the first target for Beacon College.

"Although education groups such as New Oriental are very well established in the northern part of China, there's still potential for development in the south," Eng said. "As long as we act faster than our competitors we're confident that we can seize a slice of the pie."

"Ken Sir" agrees about mainland opportunities and has collaborated with institutions there in publishing English teaching materials, though his main focus remains the local market as he shapes a strategy for expanding his empire. Part of that is a plan to open two more private schools next year, taking the total to eight, and the group's Wai Wah Centre in Sha Tin will be ready to double student rolls when an expansion is completed next month.

Ng's money-making ideas do not end there. Under the 3-3-4 scheme, liberal studies is in the core curriculum alongside Chinese, English and mathematics. Ng sees another golden opportunity because many teachers in regular schools are unfamiliar with liberal studies and marking, so tuition centers will add on more value if they are equipped to fill gaps.

"I have spent more than five years preparing for liberal studies," Ng revealed. "We have worked with publishers and attended all briefings. We have four star tutors on this subject, and some of them have taken part in training private school teachers on how to teach this subject."

But there's no textbook on how to face changing challenges in the industry, though celebrity appeal, packaging and the accuracy with which tutors pinpoint exam questions are fundamental.

High-profile English tutor king Karson Oten Fan Karno should know because he was investigated last year over a leak involving HKCEE questions last year.

Fan has had quite a checkered career. He left King's Glory in April 2006 and began teaching at Modern Education the next month.

He was ordered by the Court of First Instance in July this year to pay King's Glory HK$8.87 million in compensation for breach of contract.

Along the way came an insight into the sort of money generated in the tutorial centers. Fan earned HK$2.65 million for 40 days of work at King's Glory in March-April 2006.

And despite the defeat in court and criticism by the judge for using trendy and vulgar Chinese slang in his teaching materials, Fan's earning power is undiminished: he remains one of the most popular tutors at Modern Education.