According to a survey done by the Hong Kong Association for Academic and Teaching Exchange, which interviewed 510 Form 4 to Form 6 students, about half of them had to have at least 2 hours of extra classes every day, with 10 percent having up to 3 hours of additional classes.

Fifty-six percent of the students showed stress upon the cram schools, 58 percent felt hard to concentrate, 46 percent claimed memory deterioration, and 55 percent felt anxiety.

"The top course which bothered students most is the English subject," said Spencer Lam Pak-kan, spokesman of the Association, noting students lacking practical training, especially for language ability, due to the social distancing measures and the suspension of schools in the past two years.

Seventy-four percent of respondents saw their oral English worsen, Lam said, and 47 percent showed worries about their Chinese speaking ability.

In addition, around 75 percent of respondents expressed worries about their Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exam.

"I used to think the online teaching format could save the time for me to commute to the school," said a Form Six student Aurora, "However, I soonly realised that lacking contact with my peers led to a decline in my learning and communicating abilities."