Consumer Council has conducted a questionnaire on the services and charging methods of tutoring centres during summer period. Among the returned questionnaires, most tutoring centres indicate that students are not requested to join tutoring class in August, though certain responding centres state that tuition fees are compulsory whether or not the students are going to join the tutoring class, and such tuition fees serve as a guarantee for a seat in next academic year's tutoring class. The Council considers it necessary for tutoring centres to operate openly and let consumers know about their scope of services and charging methods before consumers apply for any class. The questionnaire mainly focuses on surveying the kind of services provided by tutoring centres and their charging methods during July and August. The questionnaire was sent out to over 160 registered tutoring centres in Macao and 80 questionnaires have been returned. Among the returned questionnaires, only 2 tutoring centres impose mandatory tuition fees in August, over 60 centres offer tutoring service during the whole summer or only in July, students can voluntarily choose to join class, and around 40% of the centres charge less during July and August due to deduction of tutoring hours. The returned questionnaires show that mandatory tuition fees charged by tutoring centres are not common, though some centres may still be charging mandatory fees as around half of the sent questionnaires have not been returned to the Council. Further, around 33% of the returned questionnaires state that parents are required to prepay tuition fees for reserving a seat in the coming academic year. Responding tutoring centres deem it necessary for related government departments to establish guidelines for charging tuition fees. Tutoring centres are also responsible for informing parents about any special fees charged during summer period. The questionnaire on tutoring centres services and charging methods are published in Consumer Report issue no. 215; information on those charging prepaid fees for next academic year is also listed on Consumer Council's website. Consumers may contact the Council directly should they find any difference in the information provided and the practices adopted by tutoring centres. Consumer Report is now available free of charge at the two offices of Consumer Council, Public Information Centre at Vicky Plaza and libraries. Consumers may also access the resources online at the Council's official website (http://www.consumer.gov.mo). For enquiries, please call 8988 9315.
