Our Story

Our Story . . .

Gloria Kaneko and Fabian Colussi represent the foundation of Elite Tutoring College, and the school's culture and philosophy was born out of the combination of their respective polar-opposite academic backgrounds and experiences.

Our History

After working briefly as a high school Japanese language teacher, and later as a freelance Japanese language tutor for 5 years, Gloria Kaneko launched Elite Tutoring College in Epping in 2005. Although focusing heavily on Japanese tutoring, we also offered tuition in English and Mathematics.

The following year, Elite Tutoring College moved to a larger location in Burwood, where we began to offer tuition in more subjects for high school students. Several years later we expanded to a second location, in Chatswood, offering a full range of both high school and primary school subjects.

In the years since Elite Tutoring College has continued to grow, albeit focusing on fewer, more commonly-needed subjects, to ensure that we successfully maintain our high standards of quality.

As of 2020 Elite Tutoring College has offered tuition exclusively online.

It now emcompasses two "centres of excellence" - Kaneko Japanese Academy, headed by Gloria and providing HSC and IB Japanese language tuition; and Steven Lee Academy, headed by Steven Lee and providing tuition in Maths and Science subjects for HSC and IB students.

Gloria Kaneko

From an educational point of view, Gloria's background is typical of that of many Asian students today.

She was born in South Korea and raised in Japan. Unfortunately, these countries hold the dubious distinction of having the two highest suicide rates in the world among developed, wealthy countries. Their people are perceived as hyper-competitive, and are often under huge pressures to be successful from a very young age. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect is that exam results or college entrance are cited as major reasons for suicide by young adults.

It's no surprise, then, that Gloria came from a very academic family, where school grades were very highly regarded. And predictably, as a child she experienced a lot of pressure from her parents to excel.

In primary school, her grades were consistently very high, but never quite first place in her school. In secondary school, she attended top-tier schools but her grades were generally average at best. In contrast, all of Gloria’s four siblings achieved top rankings in the prestigious schools they attended, as well as highly-valued scholarships.

Despite always working very hard at school, Gloria's academic achievements were somewhat of a disappointment to her parents. Her failure to top her school and her lack of proficiency in mathematics in particular, which was considered a benchmark of intelligence in Gloria's family, led them to conclude that she simply wasn’t very smart.

As a result of these pressures and disappointments, Gloria experienced a very unhappy childhood and always felt that she wasn't good enough. Nevertheless, she did go on to earn both a university Bachelor's degree and a Post-Graduate Diploma, as well as other tertiary qualifications, in addition to starting a number of successful businesses.

Fabian Colussi

As the product of a working-class Italian family from the western suburbs of Sydney, Fabian's academic experiences were in stark contrast to those of Gloria.

Growing up, his primary interest was in cars, and his dream was to become a motor mechanic, so that he could immerse himself in his passion daily. His parents, however, insisted that he attend university. As far as his educational life goes, this was the one and only pressure that he ever experienced from his family. And he complied, ultimately earning a Bachelor’s degree with honours in Mechanical Engineering.

Fabian never enjoyed school or university, and only ever did just enough work to get by. Unlike many more academically-focused students, therefore, he always maintained plenty of room in his life for leisure, interests and social activities.

The one saving grace that made his school life relatively smooth-sailing is the fact that he has an excellent memory. Consequently, his academic grades were always well above average. In university, he also had an enviable ability to achieve clarity during exams and write around a topic effectively enough to score well, while his far better-prepared colleagues would often panic and fail.

Having a very technically- and mathematically-inclined mind, the one grievance Fabian has of his educational experience is his opinion that the education system relies too much on memorisation and not enough on understanding. His belief is that:

"If you memorise something, it can be gone at any time. If you understand something, you have it for life."

It's the marriage of these two contrasting approaches to education that Gloria and Fabian experienced that forms the foundation for the uniquely effective culture at Elite Tutoring College.

About Elite Tutoring College