Exams and Tutoring verses Wisdom

The New York Times has an article about the priorities of the Indian middle class during exam season:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/world/asia/24test.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

There is a lot of pressure on Indian teens to do well, get into a good college and establish themselves in a successful career. In India, the educational system is underfunded and there are not enough places in university for every child with the marks. Similar to the College board and the American SATS, marks are based on end of year exams and, really, class work is irrelevant. Students with the top exam marks attend the best colleges. The article discusses the importance of tutoring and parents interviewed discuss the anxiety their children feel; there is a mention of one teen suicide occurring due to the pressure. There is a bit of an odd note at the end of the article in which a student admits he no longer goes to school; he attends private tutoring sessions only.

Ireland's press has an article about private, computer tutoring:

http://www.independent.ie/education/features/how-students-are-clicking-with-their-cyberteachers-2108767.html

Students may communicate with teachers on-line or participate in an on-line, no participation class for tutoring in specific subjects. The article discusses how this is one method by which teachers may supplement their income and students their study habits. Both tutoring programs in India and Ireland charge a fee for their services; basically, if a standard education is not enough to attain college entrance, middle class people may purchase educational services to supplement their child's education. As someone who does not believe in the privatization of education, I wonder what this means for education in general.

Long time ago, Socrates advocated against the written word because he felt wisdom could only be attained through participation; it had to be drawn out of a discussion between participants. Basically, people (o.k. men) had to know enough in their minds to debate an issue; reading and writing were not enough. Knowledge, in a sense, had to be inherent. All this study in Ireland and India makes me wonder if the students actually "know" the subject; facts are very easy to recite but understanding is hard to prove without participation. Further, and more confusingly, what does the financial cost of tutoring enable: the marks for getting into a university or the knowledge about a particular subject?