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Serious_Fun
Joined: 28 Jun 2005
Posts: 1171
Location: terra incognita
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 Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:24 am Post subject: tutor jailed |
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It is shocking to me that these local clowns can open "tutorial centres" without registering with any governing body!  Note the weak responses to this abuse problem; can you imagine the uproar if "Mr. Lam" was a foreign NET?
from this morning's Standard website:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=62881&sid=18000895&con_type=1
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Anger as sex fiend tutor jailed
A tutor who preyed on underaged schoolgirls was jailed yesterday - with the judge calling for a legal loophole on tutorial schools to be plugged.
Diana Lee
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A tutor who preyed on underaged schoolgirls was jailed yesterday - with the judge calling for a legal loophole on tutorial schools to be plugged.
Justice Louis Tong Po-sun made the call in sentencing repeat offender Lam Tung-chun, alias Lam Cho-kin, 50, to four years and eight months after finding him guilty on nine counts of indecent assault.
Lam had molested five girls aged between 12 and 15 while giving them tuition at a flat he rented in Tin Shui Wai. Under the guise of giving them massages, Lam had fondled their *beep* and genitals.
Lam had three previous convictions for indecent assault between 1976 and 1997, with the last one involving two girls he molested during a tutorial, for which he was jailed for 30 months. Upon his release, he changed his name and opened a tutorial school in 2003.
"The defendant did not seek treatment. Instead he became a tutorial school owner so he could get close to young girls and sexually assault them," Tong said.
"The government should consider whether parents are entitled to know the backgrounds of tutorial school teachers."
A psychiatric report said Lam was not suffering from any pathological disease though it said he had a tendency for pedophilia.
"He had indicated that he wanted to operate a tutorial school again after his release," the report said.
Tong is not the first judge to urge the government to look into the issue of repeat sex offenders.
Some judges have put it more explicitly, calling for the setting up of a sex-offender database.
A Law Reform Commission panel has been studying the issue of sexual offences as a whole since 2006, including the possibility of establishing a register of sex offenders, a Department of Justice spokeswoman said. "It is a complex and controversial issue, and careful consideration is needed," the spokeswoman said.
Hong Kong Parents Association vice-president Lai Tsang-hing said he supported mandatory registration.
At present, anyone can become a tutorial teacher. His or her background is unknown to parents who entrust their children to the care of teachers, Lai said.
Lai advised parents to only consider reputable tutorial schools and not to hire private tutors.
"Parents should also teach children how to protect themselves and not to be afraid or shy to tell their parents what has happened to them," Lai added.
Cheung Man-kwong, the education sector lawmaker, said under the current system small tutorial schools with fewer than seven students at a session and less than 21 in a day do not have to register.
A voluntary registration system for private tutorial teachers is one of the possibilities to protect students, he said. |
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ChrisRose
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Posts: 427
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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Whilst a simple no criminal background check would be nice and verification of credentials, there are some problems; e.g. a lot of local tutors (housewives and students would suffer).
Now regarding Mr. Lai's advice, "parents should only send their children to reputable tutorial schools', what an oxy-moron.
I have been in HK for 17 years and I am not aware of 1 reputable tutorial school.
Please enlighten me, are there any?
Chris |
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Serious_Fun
Joined: 28 Jun 2005
Posts: 1171
Location: terra incognita
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| Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:52 am Post subject: |
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| ChrisRose wrote: |
Whilst a simple no criminal background check would be nice and verification of credentials, there are some problems; e.g. a lot of local tutors (housewives and students would suffer).
Now regarding Mr. Lai's advice, "parents should only send their children to reputable tutorial schools', what an oxy-moron.
I have been in HK for 17 years and I am not aware of 1 reputable tutorial school.
Please enlighten me, are there any?
Chris |
I appreciate the business-friendly environment, but allowing an individual to open a tutorial centre for youth without going through any checks is rather strange...as we all can agree.
You are correct re: the part-time tutors, (housewives and students), who may not want to jump through hoops to work 6 hours per week.
Perhaps spot checks on tutorial centres would get the message out; "surprise visits (raids?)" by officials, a la Taiwan, to check on compliance with some basic standards.
Well, your 17 years of residency certainly blows away my 8 months here!  I can only assume that the larger chain schools would have higher standards. Perhaps I am naive.  |
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ChrisRose
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Posts: 427
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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Surprise raids.... YES PLEASE!
I am so sick and tired of running across people with fraudulent certifications.
This not only effects the quality of education but the perception of educators as a whole. |
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Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
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| Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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| In The Standard, Diana Lee wrote: |
| A psychiatric report said Lam was not suffering from any pathological disease though it said he had a tendency for pedophilia. |
Conclusions: In Hong Kong, pedophilia is not considered to be a pathology. Or "a tendency" is not yet "a disease." In either case, something is very wrong here. |
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