An advertisement for a school that preps kindergarten and primary kids for interviews has gone viral for its seemingly over-the-top fearmongering about today’s competitive education system.
The poster from the Ever Learning institute attracted much flak after a netizen posted it on Facebook, with the photo having been shared 7,600 times at the time of writing.
The ad features a picture of a tiny girl in clear distress and the foreboding slogan, “You don’t like competition? Competition will find you!”
Screw monsters under the bed – the scariest thing in Hong Kong children’s lives is the concept of competition! And failure, of course.
Below the picture, the advert urges you to “enrol now and make your child the next king of the interview!”
The two classes offered are designed for toddlers over 18 months old and for kindergarteners.
Unsurprisingly, netizens were not happy to see a poster that preyed on parents’ worst fears and guaranteed to make Hong Kong children’s lives even more miserable and tutoring-laden than they already are.
A spokesperson told Apple Daily that there is no plan to scrap the course, and the advert was merely to “reflect the cruel reality to parents” and the “stress they and their children are facing”.
The course is known to have run since September of last year, and the last course was filled to capacity.
According to the institute’s website, the kindergarten-level interviewing class teaches skills such as self-management, story-telling and communication. The primary school preparation class focuses on general knowledge, teamwork, discipline and etiquette.
Amanda Tann, the director of the school, wrote on her Facebook page in response to the picture going viral, sarcastically thanking a “good Samaritan” for promoting the programme for free.
She said that the little girl was crying “out of helplessness” as “competition found her”.
She continued to say that her intention was to address the educational stress on children so they could “enter the interview like a king”, and related that stress to her first job interview.
Clearly she did well during that interview, because she now makes an easy buck out of children’s tears.
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