I agree. but it has degenerated to an arms race of who can afford the best tutors. I’m sure it’s same in the States too

in the end, students don’t particularly care about abstract thinking because they are overwhelmed with stress wrt whether they can pass

I agree with that 100%. I guess when I look back at when I had these types of test with no real teacher who helped teach us to think abstractly, it was painful. Most teachers just wanted us to know the answers and a straightforward way to solve things.