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Lilly Wong, a primary school teacher in Beijing, is bracing herself for extra work as China’s coronavirus epidemic seems to be stabilising. The increased demand is not extra hours in her day job but her side hustle, as one of the so-called “super tutors” who can demand as much as $300 for 45 minutes work. “Some students do not have the ability to study by themselves, so in order to catch up at school they will have to hire super tutors,” she says through a translator.  The school semester has not yet started, but because of the closure during quarantine, Ms Wong says parents will be seeking extra help so their children can catch up for the Senior High School Entrance examination, or Zhongkao. Lilly Wong is not her real name — she is keen to keep her identity secret because the practice is officially forbidden in her state school. But by working eight hours every weekend as a maths tutor, charging $80 per hour she earns almost as much again as her teacher’s salary, allowing her to save for her daughter’s own tuition fees. One Chinese analyst says some tutors bill up to $300 per 45 minutes, and richer parents may spend more than $10,000 per term in the build-up to the pivotal Gaokao exam that determines university admission. Before coronavirus, Ms Wong taught face to face and, during the worst weeks, she used online platforms or WeChat.  According to Unesco monitoring, 29 countries have closed schools nationwide, having an impact on almost 391.5m children and youth. A further 20 countries have implemented localised school closures and, should these closures become nationwide, hundreds of millions of additional learners will experience education disruption. In place of class-based lessons, online tutors and e-learning companies have filled the educational hole. Those who usually deliver tutoring in-person, like Ms Wong, hope for a fillip when the isolation period comes to an end. According to market research group Technavio, the private tuition market will grow in the US by $7.37bn by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate of almost 8 per cent. Some of the biggest players are Chegg, Club Z and Varsity Tutors.