case study shadow education

The Shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners

Corporate author : unesco iiep, person as author : bray, mark, parent : fundamentals of educational planning, isbn : 978-92-803-1305-5, isbn : 978-4-7989-1251-6 (jpn), collation : 101 p., language : english, language : japanese, year of publication : 2007.

The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners (Second edition) Mark Bray Paris 2007 UNESCO: International Institute for Educational PlanningFundamentals of educational planning – 61Included in the series:* 2. The relation of educational plans to economic and social planning, R. Poignant 4. Planning and the educational administrator, C.E. Beeby 5. The social context of educational planning, C.A. Anderson 6. The costing of educational plans, J. Vaizey, J.D. Chesswas 7. The problems of rural education, V.L. Griffiths 8. Educational planning; the adviser’s role, A. Curle 10. The analysis of educational costs and expenditure, J. Hallak 11. The professional identity of the educational planner, A. Curle 12. The conditions for success in educational planning, G.C. Ruscoe 13. Cost-benefit analysis in educational planning, M. Woodhall 18. Planning educational assistance for the second development decade, H.M. Philips 20. Realistic educational planning, K.R. McKinnon 21. Planning education in relation to rural development, G.M. Coverdale 22. Alternatives and decisions in educational planning, J.D. Montgomery 23. Planning the school curriculum, A. Lewy 24. Cost factors in planning educational technological systems, D.T. Jamison 25. The planner and lifelong education, P. Furter 26. Education and employment: a critical appraisal, M. Carnoy 27. Planning teacher demand and supply, P. Williams 28. Planning early childhood care and education in developing countries, A. Heron 29. Communication media in education for low-income countries, E.G. McAnany, J.K. Mayo 30. The planning of non-formal education, D.R. Evans 31. Education, training and the traditional sector, J. Hallak, F. Caillods 32. Higher education and employment: the IIEP experience in five less-developed countries, G. Psacharopoulos, B.C. Sanyal 33. Educational planning as a social process, T. Malan 34. Higher education and social stratification: an international comparative study, T. Husén 35. A conceptual framework for the development of lifelong education in the USSR, A. Vladislavlev 36. Education in austerity: options for planners, K. Lewin 37. Educational planning in Asia, R. Roy-Singh 38. Education projects: elaboration, financing and management, A. Magnen 39. Increasing teacher effectiveness, L.W. Anderson 40. National and school-based curriculum development, A. Lewy 42. Redefining basic education for Latin America: lessons to be learned from the Colombian Escuela Nueva, E. Schiefelbein 43. The management of distance learning systems, G. Rumble 44. Educational strategies for small island states, D. Atchoarena 45. Judging educational research based on experiments and surveys, R.M. Wolf 46. Law and educational planning, I. Birch 47. Utilizing education and human resource sector analyses, F. Kemmerer 48. Cost analysis of educational inclusion of marginalized populations, M.C. Tsang 49. An efficiency-based management information system, W.W. McMahon. 50. National examinations: design, procedures and reporting, J.P. Keeves. 51. Education policy-planning process: an applied framework, W.D. Haddad, with the assistance of T. Demsky 52. Searching for relevance: the development of work orientation in basic education, W. Hoppers 53. Planning for innovation in education, D.E. Inbar 54. Functional analysis (management audits) of the organization of ministries of education, R. Sack, M. Saïdi 55. Reducing repetition: issues and strategies, T.O. Eisemon 56. Increasing girls and women’s participation in basic education, N.P. Stromquist 57. Physical facilities for education: what planners need to know, J. Beynon 58. Planning learner-centred adult literacy programmes, S.E. Malone, R.F. Arnove 59. Training teachers to work in schools considered difficult, J.-L. Auduc 60. Evaluating higher education, J.L. Rontopoulou 61. The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implication for planners, M. Bray (2nd edition) 62. School-based management, I. Abu-Duhou 63. Globalization and educational reform: what planners need to know, M. Carnoy 64. Decentralization of education: why, when, what and how?, N. McGinn, T. Welsh 65. Early childhood education: need and opportunity, D. Weikart 66. Planning for education in the context of HIV/AIDS, M.J. Kelly 67. Legal aspects of educational planning and administration, C. Durand-Prinborgne 68. Improving school effectiveness, J. Scheerens 69. Reviewing quantitative research to inform policy processes, S.J. Hite 70. National strategies for e-learning in post-secondary education and training, T. Bates 71. Using assessment to improve the quality of education, T. Kellaghan, V. Greaney 72. Demographic aspects of educational planning, T.N. Châu 73. Planning education in and after emergencies, M. Sinclair 74. Educational privatization: causes, consequences and planning implications, C.R. Belfield, H.M. Levin 75. Planning human resources: methods, experiences and practices, O. Bertrand 76. Multigrade schools: improving access in rural Africa?, E. Brunswick, J. Valérien 77. ICT in education around the world: trends, problems and prospects, W.J. Pelgrum, N. Law 78. Social inequality at school and educational policies, M. Duru-Bellat 7 9 Increasing teacher effectiveness, L.W. Anderson (2nd edition) 80. Cost-benefit analysis in educational planning, M. Woodhall (4th edition) 81. Monitoring educational achievement, T.N. Postlethwaite 82. Education reforms and teachers’ unions: avenues for action, D. Vaillant 83. Unequal chances to participate in adult learning: international perspectives, R. Desjardins, K. Rubenson, M. Milana 84. Global perspectives on teacher learning: improving policy and practice, J. Schwille, M. Dembélé, in collaboration with J. Schubert 85. External quality assurance in higher education: making choices, M. Martin, A. Stella * Also published in French. Other titles to appear.The Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida) has provided financial assistance for the publication of this booklet. First published in 1999 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7 place de Fontenoy, F 75352 Paris 07 SP Printed in France Cover design by Pierre Finot ISBN: 978-92-803-1305-5 © UNESCO 1999, 20075 Fundamentals of educational planning* The booklets in this series are written primarily for two types of clientele: those engaged in educational planning and administration, in developing as well as developed countries; and others, less specialized, such as senior government officials and policy-makers who seek a more general understanding of educational planning and of how it is related to overall national development. They are intended to be of use either for private study or in formal training programmes. Since this series was launched in 1967 practices and concepts of educational planning have undergone substantial change. Many of the assumptions which underlay earlier attempts to rationalize the process of educational development have been criticized or abandoned. Even if rigid mandatory centralized planning has now clearly proven to be inappropriate, this does not mean that all forms of planning have been dispensed with. On the contrary, the need for collecting data, evaluating the efficiency of existing programmes, undertaking a wide range of studies, exploring the future and fostering broad debate on these bases to guide educational policy and decision- making has become even more acute than before. The scope of educational planning has been broadened. In addition to the formal system of education, it is now applied to all other important educational efforts in non-formal settings. Attention to the growth and expansion of education systems is being complemented and sometimes even replaced by a growing concern for the quality of the entire educational process and for the control of its results. Finally, planners and administrators have become more and more aware of the importance of implementation strategies and of the role of different regulatory mechanisms in this respect: the choice of * Original foreword to the 1999 edition.6 Fundamentals of educational planning financing methods, the examination and certification procedures or various other regulation and incentive structures. The concern of planners is twofold: to reach a better understanding of the validity of education in its own empirically observed specific dimensions and to help in defining appropriate strategies for change. The purpose of these booklets includes monitoring the evolution and change in educational policies and their effect upon educational planning requirements; highlighting current issues of educational planning and analyzing them in the context of their historical and societal setting; and disseminating methodologies of planning which can be applied in the context of both the developed and the developing countries. In order to help the Institute identify the real up-to-date issues in educational planning and policy-making in different parts of the world, an Editorial Board has been appointed, composed of two general editors and associate editors from different regions, all professionals of high repute in their own field. At the first meeting of this new Editorial Board in January 1990, its members identified key topics to be covered in the coming issues under the following headings: 1. Education and development. 2. Equity considerations. 3. Quality of education. 4. Structure, administration and management of education. 5. Curriculum. 6. Cost and financing of education. 7. Planning techniques and approaches. 8. Information systems, monitoring and evaluation. Each heading is covered by one or two associate editors. The series has been carefully planned but no attempt has been made to avoid differences or even contradictions in the views expressed by the authors. The Institute itself does not wish to impose any official doctrine. Thus, while the views are the responsibility of the authors and may not always be shared by UNESCO or the IIEP,7 Fundamentals of educational planning they warrant attention in the international forum of ideas. Indeed, one of the purposes of this series is to reflect a diversity of experience and opinions by giving different authors from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines the opportunity of expressing their views on changing theories and practices in educational planning. Private tutoring is a phenomenon that has escaped the attention of researchers, educational planners, and decision-makers. Very little is known about its scope, scale, and effects on pupil’s achievement and equality of opportunities. Because of its size in a number of countries, and due to its nature – that of a private service oriented at improving academic performance – private tutoring has important implications for the educational system as a whole that cannot be ignored by education policies. Mark Bray makes an important contribution to the debate through his systematization of available information and his analysis of this phenomenon. He asks the critical questions: “What is private tutoring and what are its manifestations?” “Who supplies and demands this service?” “What effects does it have on the formal education system?” and “What are the policy options facing education planners?” The Editorial Board is very grateful to Mark Bray for his valuable insight and contribution. Jacques Hallak Assistant Director-General, UNESCO, 1994-2000 Director, IIEP, 1988-1999Composition of the Editorial Board Chairman: Mark Bray Director, IIEP General Editor: Françoise Caillods Deputy Director, IIEP Associate Editors: François Orivel IREDU, University of Bourgogne France Jacques Hallak Consultant France Eric Hanushek Stanford University USA Fernando Reimers Harvard University USA Kenneth N. Ross IIEP France Marc Demeuse Mons-Hainaut University Belgium Yusuf Sayed UNESCO France9 Preface When this booklet was first published in 1999, it was immediately recognized as the first significant study from a global perspective of the important phenomenon of private tutoring. The booklet attracted very positive reviews in professional journals, and has been widely cited. In addition to focusing the attention of policy-makers, planners and researchers on this theme, it has set a path for subsequent work by the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). For example, in 2003 IIEP commissioned a follow-up study by Mark Bray for the series ‘Ethics and corruption in education’; and in 2007 IIEP organized a Policy Forum on the theme ‘Confronting the shadow education system: What government policies for what private tutoring?’. This Policy Forum brought together policy-makers, planners, practitioners and researchers from all regions of the world to explore themes and deepen understanding of the range of potential policy responses. This reprint of the booklet retains the 1999 version in its original form, but adds a supplementary bibliography of works written since that year, providing additional research evidence. When Mark Bray wrote the 1999 booklet, he described the experience as “like assembling a jigsaw puzzle with many of the pieces missing”. Subsequent research, some of it stimulated by the 1999 booklet, has provided more pieces for the puzzle. The research has also shown that the picture is dynamic, with the shadow changing in shape and density in response to social, political, economic and other forces. In many parts of the world, particularly Western Europe, Eastern Europe and North America, the shadow has become more visible than before. In the original (1999) preface, I began by noting that private tutoring was not a new phenomenon: It had been practised for quite a number of years in both developed and developing countries. In fact, private tutoring in some societies had become part of the10 Preface educational environment to such an extent that few people really questioned its existence. The scale of the activities varied a great deal from country to country, but was often underestimated. In some countries, additional private courses, whether provided on an individual basis or in special institutions, had become a huge business, mobilizing extensive resources and employing many people. These features became even more evident in the years that followed publication of the 1999 booklet. Planners and decision-makers need to be fully informed of this phenomenon and reflect on whether it is a good or a bad thing. It may be considered a good thing in that it provides additional resources to numerous (often underpaid) teachers and to university students. Parents are ready to invest large sums in these courses in order to give their children the best preparation for and facilitate access to a higher level of studies and to the best schools. Whether it works, and how it affects quality and equity in the educational system is something that needs to be considered. Training pupils for examinations only may not be the best training that can take place. Cramming is often to the detriment of creative learning and may not lead to the expected increase in human capital. Besides, not everybody can pay for such courses: Extensive private tuition then exacerbates social inequalities. Some people add that such courses have a negative impact on the mainstream educational system. In some instances, private tuition organized by class teachers can become a kind of blackmail if the teachers only teach the more important topics in the private sessions. What policy options are available? Ideally, more resources should be allocated to education in general. If teachers’ salaries could be increased, it would reduce their search for a complementary income; and if money invested in these private courses could be invested in the mainstream educational system, it would be to the benefit of all. However, it is not sure that such improvements would stop the development of such courses, as long as examinations remain as selective as they are. Also, many governments cannot significantly increase the resources allocated to education.11 Preface In today’s increasingly knowledge-based and globalized societies, where countries and firms compete on the basis of the quality of their workforce, higher levels of education are necessary in order to be considered for a full-time job. Having finished secondary education or having a university degree is not a guarantee against unemployment, but it may be the best investment a family can make to prepare its children for the future. These developments in the labour market contribute to fuelling demand for private tuition as a complement to courses in formal education. At the same time, governments are pressed to reduce taxes and public spending. Even in countries where total educational expenditures are increasing, the amount of money spent on each pupil and student tends to decrease. This has led to, and may continue to lead to, the deterioration of the quality of education offered in state schools. Families are asked to complement government funding, and those who can afford it pay for additional courses to make up for the loss in quality. The development of private tuition has to be interpreted within the overall trend of privatization and marketization of education. When Mark Bray wrote this booklet, he was Director of the Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong. In 2006 he moved to IIEP, becoming its eighth Director. In this role, he is helping IIEP to maintain the conceptual lead which it established with the publication of the 1999 booklet. The booklet stands as a major contribution both to understanding of the phenomenon and to identification of possible policy responses. IIEP is glad to reprint it in the present format with its updated bibliography. Françoise Caillods General EditorAcknowledgements Many people have contributed to this booklet, supplying information and commenting on drafts. They cannot all be mentioned by name, but some deserve explicit acknowledgement. At the IIEP, a key role was played by Françoise Caillods, who encouraged me to write the booklet, commented on the draft and steered it through the production process. Her colleagues on the editorial board also gave constructive suggestions and other assistance. Particularly to be mentioned are Neville Postlethwaite, Kenneth Ross, Richard Sack and Rosa Maria Torres. Other individuals who commented on the draft include Bob Adamson, Patricia Broadfoot, William Cummings, Michael Crossley, W.A. de Silva, Ora Kwo, Percy Kwok, Raffick Foondun, Paul Morris, Vanilda Paiva, Nancy Russell, Sheldon Shaeffer, Jason Tan, and Mercy Tembon. 1213 Contents Preface 9 Introduction 17 I. Definitions and parameters 20 II. Characteristics of private tutoring 23 Scale 24 Cost 27 Geographic spread 29 Intensity 31 Subjects 34 III. Producers and consumers 37 Producers: who provides private tutoring, and how? 37 Consumers: who receives private tutoring, and why? 42 IV. Educational, social and economic impact 46 Private tutoring and academic achievement 46 Impact on mainstream schooling 50 Social implications 57 Economic implications 64 V. Diversity and evolution of education systems 67 The diploma disease and late development effect 67 Influences of culture and economics 69 VI. Policy responses and options 74 Alternative approaches 74 Focus on the producers 77 Focus on the consumers 79 VII. Conclusions 84 References 88 Supplementary bibliography 9814 List of tables 1. The scale of private supplementary tutoring in selected countries 2. Average monthly charges for private tutoring, Dhaka Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh, 1995 (Taka) 3. Average number of hours spent on private tutoring, by grade and specialism, Sri Lanka 4. Distribution of students receiving supplementary tutoring, by race, Malaysia 5. Language background and supplementary tutoring in Singapore 6. Most common subjects for supplementary tutoring, Sri Lanka 7. Main reasons given by Hong Kong students for taking supplementary tutoring 8. Reasons given by Year 13 Sri Lankan students for taking supplementary tutoring (%) 9. Social stratification and private tutoring in Singapore List of figures 1. Increasing attendance of pupils in juku, Japan, 1976-93 2. Number of subjects in which students received tutoring, Malaysia (%) 3. Reasons given by Maltese students for taking supplementary tutoring 4. Path diagram for analysis of factors affecting reading literacy, Mauritius 5. Path diagram for analysis of influences on Senior High School achievement, Greece15 List of boxes 1. The role of the private tutor – a Singaporean perspective 2. Same class, same teacher 3. A parent’s concern 4. Securing the ‘best’ jobs in schools 5. Harnessing technology for education 6. The pressures on schoolchildren – a Hong Kong perspective 7. Social inequality and social instability 8. Examination dominance in the Republic of Korea. Critique and response 9. Meeting individual needs in Singapore 10. Living with ambiguity. The mainstream and shadow systems in Japan17 Introduction For millions of children throughout the world, formal instruction does not end when the school bell rings to signal the completion of the school day. Many children proceed from their schools, with or without a break, to some form of private supplementary tutoring. Some do not even leave their school compounds. Instead, they receive private supplementary tutoring within the same institution and perhaps even in the same classroom and from the same teachers. Many children also receive tutoring on non-school days, i.e. at weekends, during vacations and on public holidays. During recent decades, private tutoring has grown to become a vast enterprise. It employs many thousands of people, consumes massive amounts of money, and demands huge amounts of time from both tutors and students. However, few planners and policy-makers have adequate data on private supplementary tutoring and, in general, the implications of tutoring for education systems and for social change are underestimated and poorly understood. The title of this booklet, following a terminology used in several countries, describes private supplementary tutoring as a ‘shadow’ education system. The metaphor of a shadow is appropriate in several ways. First, private supplementary tutoring only exists because the mainstream education exists; second, as the size and shape of the mainstream system change, so do the size and shape of supplementary tutoring; third, in almost all societies much more public attention focuses on the mainstream than on its shadow; and fourth, the features of the shadow system are much less distinct than those of the mainstream system. Shadows can of course be useful. Just as the shadow cast by a sun-dial can tell the observer about the passage of time, so the shadow of an education system can tell the observer about change in societies. However, in some countries, parents, educators and politicians are highly critical of the way in which private tutoring has come to18 The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners dominate the lives of families and pupils. Tutoring commonly creates and perpetuates social inequalities, and it consumes human and financial resources which perhaps could be used more appropriately in other activities. Critics add that private tutoring can distort the curriculum in the mainstream system, upsetting the sequence of learning planned by mainstream teachers and exacerbating diversity in classrooms. In this sense, unlike most shadows, private supplementary tutoring is not just a passive entity but may negatively affect even the body which it imitates. More positively, private tutoring can be seen as a mechanism through which pupils extend their learning and gain additional human capital, which benefits not only themselves but also the wider societies of which they are part. Tutoring may also reduce the workload of mainstream teachers, helping pupils to understand the materials which have been, or will be, presented during the ordinary school day. For planners, moreover, the sun-dial of private tutoring indicates not only what some segments of society want, but also what they are prepared to pay for. Despite the widespread existence and far-reaching implications of private tutoring, it has so far received little attention by researchers and planners. This is partly because the mainstream education system is much easier to observe and monitor. Most information on budgets and educational processes in government-controlled schools is either already public knowledge or available to be demanded as public knowledge. The same is true of many private schools, for education authorities commonly insist that such schools report data at least on enrolments, class size, curriculum and pupil achievement. By contrast, private supplementary tutoring is beyond the reach of most government data-collection systems. Tutors are often unwilling to declare their earnings, and families may be reluctant to declare their expenditures. Processes of teaching and learning may also be unmonitored. Many government officials prefer not to investigate private supplementary tutoring because it is a complex area for which they might be pressed to take some responsibility; and researchers lack the authority to demand information on activities which take place behind closed doors.19 Introduction Nevertheless, some information is available on the topic, and a central argument of this booklet is that private supplementary tutoring deserves much greater attention than it has so far received. The booklet pulls together scattered data from a variety of sources to present one of the most comprehensive international pictures that has yet been assembled. It also demonstrates the need for more research. Much can be learned from cross-national comparisons regarding the nature of private supplementary tutoring and about appropriate responses from planners and policy-makers.20 I. Definitions and parameters Some definitions are needed to help identify the nature of the topic. First is the matter of supplementation. The booklet is only concerned with tutoring which covers subjects which are already covered in school. It does not, for example, examine language classes for minority children whose families are anxious that new generations retain competence in languages not taught in mainstream schools. Second is the dimension of privateness. The booklet is not concerned with personnel who provide supplementary help at public expense, e.g. to assist new immigrants to adjust to host societies, or to provide head-start or other programmes for slow learners. Nor is the booklet concerned with unpaid work, e.g. from family members who voluntarily help other family members with their homework or other tasks. Rather, the booklet is primarily concerned with tutoring provided by private entrepreneurs and individuals for profit-making purposes. The basic focus of the booklet is on academic subjects taught in mainstream schools, particularly languages, mathematics and other examinable subjects. Tutors are commonly perceived as people who help pupils to carry the heavy academic load of formal classrooms (Box 1). Discussion in the booklet does not include musical, artistic or sporting skills, which are learned primarily for pleasure and/or for a more rounded form of personal development. These may also consume substantial financial and human resources, and may have a significant impact on social stratification as well as on general social welfare. However, the issues associated with non-academic subjects are somewhat different, particularly insofar as they are not assessed by examinations and explicitly used in the gate-keeping process of transition from one part of an education system to another, and they deserve separate study in their own right.21 Definitions and parameters In terms of levels, the booklet is mainly concerned with the subjects learned in primary and secondary schools. Supplementary tutoring certainly exists at the post-secondary and even pre-primary levels. It is less vigorous at these levels, however, and the mechanics and issues are rather different. In the majority of societies, supplementary tutoring is most evident at the senior secondary level, followed in order of magnitude by junior secondary and upper primary. The forms of private tutoring may be varied. Some tutoring is provided one-to-one in the home of either the tutor or his/her client. Other tutoring is in small groups, in large classes, or even in huge lecture-theatres with video-screens to cater for overflows. Some tutoring is provided entirely by correspondence in the mail or over Box 1. The role of the private tutor – a Singaporean perspective Source: Straits Times, 4 April 1992, p.28.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 22 the Internet; and in some societies tutoring is provided by telephone. The fact that private tutoring can be provided in so many forms is among the reasons why it is difficult to investigate. However, the variety of forms also provides instructive comparisons and contrasts. Finally, the terminology used to identify private tutoring varies in different countries. In some English-speaking societies, people refer to private tuition more often than to private tutoring. Entrepreneurs who create formal establishments for tutoring commonly call them centres, academies or institutes. In Japan, tutoring centres which supplement the school system are known as juku. These are distinguished from yobiko, which mainly serve pupils who have left school but who want an extra ‘block’ of time to study intensively for examinations in order to gain higher grades for entrance to universities. A parallel phenomenon exists in the United Kingdom, where such institutions are called crammers. While yobiko and crammers are mainly outside the scope of this study since they primarily serve pupils who have left school, some yobiko and crammers give supplementary tutoring to pupils who still attend school. To this extent, categories overlap.23 II. Characteristics of private tutoring Scale The scale of supplementary tutoring varies widely in different societies. Major factors underlying the variation include cultures, the nature of mainstream education systems, and the structures of economies. Table 1 provides some statistics as a starting point. The statistics are not all of equal reliability, and comparison is obstructed by the fact that they have been collected in different ways, apply to different levels of education, and refer to different points in time. Nevertheless, the statistics help to sketch a picture. The table shows that in some countries tutoring is a very large enterprise. In Mauritius, for example, almost all senior secondary school students receive tutoring; in Japan about 70 per cent of pupils will have received private tutoring by the time they complete middle school; and in Malaysia about 83 per cent of pupils will have received tutoring by the time they reach senior secondary school. The scale of tutoring appears to have increased during the last few decades. Figure 1 shows statistics for Japan, where attendance at elementary-level juku is reported to have doubled between 1976 and 1993. Many tutorial centres in Japan are modest in size, but others are huge. The largest, Kumon Educational Institute, trains housewives to teach its mathematics, English and Japanese-language curriculum to children, and has become a multinational corporation operating in 27 countries. Nine juku firms are listed on Japanese stock exchanges (Russell, 1997, p.154). The growth of tutoring has led to an overall increase in activity even though the falling birth rate has reduced the total number of children in Japan.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 24 Table 1. The scale of private supplementary tutoring in selected countries Country Scale of private supplementary tutoring Sources Brazil A study in Rio de Janeiro public schools found that over 50% of students received tutoring and saw it as a way to reduce the likelihood of having to repeat grades. Paiva et al., 1997 Cambodia Respondents in 31% of 77 primary schools surveyed in 1997/98 indicated that pupils received tutoring. Among urban schools, the proportion was 60%. At post-primary levels, proportions were higher still. Bray, 1996a; 1999 Egypt In 1991/92, 54% of 9,000 Grade 5 pupils (300 schools) and 74% of 9,000 Grade 8 pupils (another300 schools) were receiving private tutoring. A1994 survey of 4,729 households found that 65% of urban primary children and 53% of rural ones had received tutoring. Fergany, 1994; Hua, 1996 Guinea A 1995/96 survey of Grade 6 pupils in two urban and four rural schools found 19% receiving private tutoring. Tembon et al., 1997 Hong Kong A 1996 survey of 507 students found 45% of primary, 26% of lower secondary, 34% of middle secondary, and 41% of upper secondary students receiving tutoring. A 1998 study of four schools serving different population groups found an average of 41% of Grade 3 and 39% of Grade 6 pupils receiving tutoring. Lee, 1996; Liu, 1998 Japan A 1993 survey found 24% of elementary pupils and 60% of secondary pupils attending juku. Another 4% received tutoring at home. Nearly 70% of all students had received tutoring by the time they had completed middle school. Japan, 1995; Russell, 1997 Korea, Republic of A 1997 survey indicated that in Seoul, 82% of elementary, 66% of middle and 59% of academic high school students received tutoring. In rural areas, proportions were 54%, 46% and 12%. Paik, 1998; see also Yoon et al., 1997 Malaysia In 1990, 8,420 students were surveyed in secondary Forms 3, 5 and 6. Respective proportions receiving tutoring were 59%, 53% and 31%. About 83% of students had received some form of tutoring by the time they reached upper secondary level. Marimuthu et al., 199125 Characteristics of private tutoring Malta A 1987/88 survey of 2,129 pupils found that 52% of primary and 83% of secondary students had received tutoring at some time during their careers. In that year, 42% of Grade 6 and 77% of Grade 11 pupils were receiving tutoring. Falzon and Busuttil, 1988 Mauritius A 1991 survey showed 56% of students receiving tutoring in secondary Form 2. Proportions rose to 98% in Forms 3 and 4, and 100% in Forms 5 and 6. A 1995 survey of 2,919 Grade 6 pupils reported that 78% received extra lessons. Foondun, 1998; Kulpoo, 1998 Morocco A 1993 survey of 1,953 mainstream secondary science teachers indicated that 53% provided after-school tutoring. The lowest proportion (27%) was in the first year of secondary education; but the figure rose to 78% in the most senior grade. Caillods et al., 1998 Myanmar A 1991 survey of 118 Grade 9 and 10 students in Yangon Division found 91% receiving tutoring. Among 131 students in Grades 5-8, 66% received tutoring. Gibson, 1992 Singapore A 1992 survey of 1,052 households plus interviews with 1,261 students found 49% of primary pupils and 30% of secondary pupils receiving tutoring. Findings matched an earlier study of tutoring in languages among 572 primary and 581 secondary students. Kwan-Terry, 1991; George, 1992; Wong; Wong, 1998 Sri Lanka In 1990, 1,873 students were surveyed in Years 6, 11 and 13. Proportions receiving tutoring in Years 6 and11 were 80% and 75%. In Year 13 the proportions were 62% for arts students, 67% for commerce students, and 92% for science students. de Silva et al., 1991; de Silva, 1994a Taiwan Government statistics indicate that in 1996 Taiwan had 4,266 tutoring centres with 1,505,491 students. Other centres are unregistered and are illegal. A 1998 survey found 81% of 397 senior secondary students receiving private tutoring. Taiwan, 1997; Tseng, 1998 Tanzania A 1995/96 survey of Grade 6 pupils in three urban and four rural schools in mainland Tanzania found 26% receiving tutoring. In a Dar es Salaam school, 70% of Grade 6 pupils received tutoring in 1998. A 1995 survey of 2,286 Grade 6 Zanzibar pupils found 44% receiving extra lessons, though not all pupils paid for the classes. Peasgood et al., 1997; Nassor; Mohamme, 1998 Zimbabwe A 1995 survey of 2,697 Grade 6 pupils in all nine regions reported that 61% received extra lessons. The regional range of proportions was from 36% to 74%. Machingaidze et al., 1998The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 26 Figure 1. Increasing attendance of pupils in juku, Japan, 1976-93 Source: Japan (1995), p.6. Statistics also show growth of tutoring in other countries. A pair of surveys in Singapore suggested that the proportion of primary pupils receiving tutoring increased from 27 per cent to 49 per cent between 1982 and 1992, and that the increase at the secondary level was from 16 per cent to 30 per cent (George, 1992). In Mauritius, a pair of surveys showed an increase at Grade 6 from 73 per cent in 1986 (Joynathsing et al., 1988, p.31) to 78 per cent in 1995 (Kulpoo, 1998, p.26). During the 1990s the shift towards a market economy in China and Viet Nam permitted and encouraged the emergence of supplementary tutoring in settings where previously it did not exist. Eastern Europe has also undergone economic transition. The partial collapse of public education systems during the 1990s which accompanied that transition and which followed the collapse of communism in 1991 has required families to invest in tutoring on a scale not previously evident (UNICEF, 1998, p.85). 1976 1985 1993 Year Elementary Lower Secondary 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % of pupils receiving private tutoring27 Characteristics of private tutoring Cost Such tutoring consumes huge amounts of money. For example: • In Japan, tutoring had annual revenues in the mid-1990s equivalent to US$14,000 million (Russell, 1997, p.153). • In Singapore (which has a population of only 3 million compared with 125 million in Japan), households were reported in 1992 to be spending about US$200 million on private tutoring (George, 1992, p.29). • A Myanmar study (Gibson, 1992, p.4) estimated that mainstream high schools in the capital city consumed 16 per cent of the incomes of the students’ families, and that tutoring raised this figure to 27 per cent. • In Egypt, private tutoring was estimated in 1994 to consume 20 per cent of total household expenditures per child in urban primary schools and 15 per cent in rural primary schools (Fergany, 1994, p.79). • In Cambodia, even at the primary level, supplementary tutoring has been estimated to consume 7 per cent of the total cost of schooling (Bray, 1999, p.42); and the costs of tutoring escalate substantially at the secondary level (Asian Development Bank, 1996, p.107). • Most dramatic of all, parents in the Republic of Korea are reported to have spent US$25,000 million on private tutoring during 1996, which was equivalent to 150 per cent of the government’s budget (Asiaweek, 1997, p.20). Typical households spent the equivalent of US$1,950 a year on tutoring for each child in secondary school, and US$1,500 for each child in primary school. In most cases, the greatest components in these figures are the fees paid to tutors and their agencies. In most settings, charges increase at higher levels of the education system, and individual tutoring is more costly per person than group work. Table 2 shows figures from Bangladesh which illustrate this point.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 28 Table 2. Average monthly charges for private tutoring, Dhaka Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh, 1995 (Taka) Individual Groups of study 3-5 persons Primary level 450 275 Classes 6-8 650 375 Classes 9-10 850 550 Intermediate level 950 700 Higher level 1,350 650 Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, cited in Ilon (1998), p.31. In addition to fees, students must pay for books, stationery, and travel. Increasingly, students also have to purchase computers and associated equipment. The Japanese Government has estimated that in 1996, 72 per cent of the household expenditures on supplementary learning by upper secondary school students was consumed by fees for tutors and juku, while the remainder was consumed by stationery, books and other items (Japan, 1998, p.163). At the lower secondary level, 85 per cent of expenditures was allocated to fees, with 15 per cent being consumed by materials and other items. Private tutoring also has a substantial opportunity cost, not only for tutors but also for students. The opportunity cost arises from the time spent in lessons and from the time for preparation, administration and travel. One study in Malaysia (Marimuthu et al., 1991, p.61) found that although 70 per cent of students receiving tutoring spent less than three hours a week in travel to and from tutors, 17 per cent spent more than six hours a week. The corollary of the figures on direct expenditures is that tutoring gave substantial incomes to large numbers of tutors. Some of them already had other sources of income, e.g. as teachers in mainstream schools, but others had no alternative sources of income. Because tutoring is mostly a shadow activity, much of the revenue received by tutors is beyond the reach of government tax collectors.29 Characteristics of private tutoring Geographic spread These examples show that supplementary tutoring is found in many parts of the world, and especially in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The principal regions in which tutoring is not quite as prominent (though still evident) are Western Europe, North America, and Australasia. Among the determinants of the scale of tutoring, and thus its geographic spread, the most important are cultural, educational and economic factors. Many Asian cultures, particularly those influenced by Confucian traditions, place strong emphasis on effort as a factor explaining and determining success (Rohlen; LeTendre, 1996, p.374; Salili, 1996, p.92). In contrast, European and North-American cultures are more likely to emphasize ability. Supplementary tutoring is especially likely to be widespread in cultures which stress effort. Also important are the size and nature of education systems. Supplementary tutoring is more common at the secondary than at the primary level, and as African countries expand their secondary provision they ‘catch up’ with Asian and Latin-American countries not only in formal schooling but also in supplementary tutoring. Private tutoring is also more evident in systems in which success in examinations can easily be promoted by investment in private supplementary tutoring; and private supplementary tutoring becomes more necessary in systems which are teacher-centred rather than child-centred, and which are intolerant of slow learners. A further crucial factor concerns the economic rewards from private tutoring. With reference to Singapore, Kwan-Terry (1991, p.71) highlighted research which showed that in the mid-1980s the average earnings of males with no schooling were S$583 per month, rising to S$665 for males with primary education, S$861 for those with secondary education, S$1,260 for those with post-secondary education, and reaching S$3,000 for males with tertiary education. Since the gateway to each level was guarded by examinations, the rewards for success and the penalties for failure in those examinations were substantial. Psacharopoulos (1994) has summarized other studies of rates of return which, in general, show that individualsThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 30 would be well advised to stay in education systems as long as they can. If supplementary tutoring helps people to stay in education systems longer, then for those people it may be a very good investment. However, in some societies the differentials in living standards between individuals with different amounts of education are greater than in others. Differentials have long been particularly great in such societies as Singapore and Hong Kong, but less marked in such countries as the United Kingdom and Australia. This implies that the rewards from extra levels of schooling, and from supplementary tutoring, are greater in these Asian societies than in Western Europe or Australasia. Also evident from these examples is that supplementary tutoring may be found in both rich and poor countries. Table 1 shows high proportions both in the Republic of Korea, which had a per capita Gross National Product (GNP) in 1994 of US$8,260, and in Cambodia, which had a per capita GNP of US$238. Likewise, it shows high proportions both in Mauritius (per capita GNP US$3,150) and Sri Lanka (US$640). Within those societies, the relatively prosperous are more easily able to pay for tutoring than the relatively poor; but even among the poor, participation rates are high. In countries suffering from economic collapse, tutoring may be widespread because teachers are paid such low salaries that they have to secure extra income simply in order to live. Private tutoring is more common in urban than in rural areas. The Cambodian study mentioned in Table 1 referred to private supplementary tutoring given in the pupils’ regular public primary schools. Among the urban schools in the sample, 61 per cent reported that their children received private supplementary tutoring, whereas the proportion among rural schools was just 9 per cent (Bray, 1999, p.58). Urban bias has also been reported in other countries. With regard to Malaysia, for example, research reported by Chew and Leong (1995) recorded 59 per cent of students in urban schools receiving tutoring compared with 28 per cent in rural schools. Chew and Leong observed (p.21) that:31 Characteristics of private tutoring The higher demand for tuition on the part of students in urban areas may be due to a number of reasons. For one, there is normally a higher level of competitiveness among urban students which is related to the very competitive nature of urban life. Secondly, parents in urban society usually possess higher educational attainment than their rural counterparts and, by logical extension, have higher achievement expectation regarding their children’s education... Also, urban parents are better off in socio-economic terms to afford tuition for their children, given that the fees incurred are fairly substantial. Similar remarks have been made with reference to Greece (Polydorides, 1986), Egypt (Fergany, 1994) and Taiwan (Tseng, 1998). Intensity Of course not all students, even within particular locations, receive tutoring for the same duration each day or week. As already indicated, students receive tutoring more intensively at the secondary rather than the primary level; and within those levels they demand more tutoring in the grades which lead up to major examinations. Table 3 provides data on this topic from Sri Lanka. According to the study from which these figures were drawn, the duration of tutoring received by science specialists in Year 13 was almost three times that received by arts specialists and nearly twice that received by commerce specialists. Presumably, the intensity of tutoring also varied according to the time of year. In parallel Malaysian research (Marimuthu et al., 1991, p.47), 70 per cent of students sampled who were receiving tutoring did so throughout the year, while the others only received tutoring prior to important examinations. Students may attend several tutors for different subjects or even for different components of the same subject. Wijetunge (1994, p.15) has remarked with reference to Sri Lanka that students preparing for the Advanced Level examinations commonly “feel compelled to seekThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 32 out the ‘experts’ for various sections or topics within a single subject, to the extent that even four or more tutors per subject no longer raises eyebrows”. Table 3. Average number of hours spent on private tutoring, by grade and specialism, Sri Lanka Total no. of Total no. of Average no. of students hours spent on hours spent on Grade receiving tutoring tutoring per week tutoring per week Year 11 568 4,892 8.6 Year 13 Arts 376 1,608 4.3 Year 13 Commerce 262 1,607 6.1 Year 13 Science 278 3,199 11.5 Source: de Silva (1994a), p.28. An alternative indicator of intensity is the number of subjects in which students receive tutoring. Figure 2 shows the number of subjects taken by 4,340 primary and secondary students in Malaysia. Over half the students received tutoring in only one or two subjects, but nearly 20 per cent received tutoring in five or more subjects. The intensity of private tutoring may also vary because of other factors. As one might expect, children in higher socio-economic groups generally receive more supplementary tutoring than do children in lower socio-economic groups (de Silva, 1994a; Foondun, 1998; Stevenson and Baker, 1992). Some societies also exhibit variations by race. Table 4 elaborates on the Malaysian data by showing a racial breakdown. A higher percentage of Indian students received supplementary tutoring than did Malays, with Chinese students occupying an intermediate position.33 Characteristics of private tutoring Figure 2. Number of subjects in which students received tutoring, Malaysia (%) Source: Chew; Leong (1995), p.28. Table 4. Distribution of students receiving supplementary tutoring, by race, Malaysia Receiving tutoring Not receiving tutoring Race Number % Number % Malay 1,471 39 2,265 61 Chinese 2,213 63 1,276 37 Indian 449 71 182 29 Others 236 41 340 59 Source: Chew; Leong (1995), p.23. 17% 10% 9% 10% 30% 23% three subjects four subjects five subjects six subjects one subject two subjectThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 34 Subjects Because the emphases of mainstream education systems vary, so do the emphases of shadow education systems. In general, the subjects given most attention in private tutoring are the ones most needed for educational and therefore socio-economic advancement. Commonly this means languages, mathematics and science. Kwan-Terry (1991) has highlighted the importance of languages in Singapore. In that country, English is essential for advancement, but students must also have competence in a mother tongue. Within the Singaporean population, approximately 77 per cent are Chinese, 14 per cent are Malays and 6 per cent are Indians. Kwan-Terry’s research found 55 per cent of primary students and 29 per cent of secondary students receiving tutoring in English and/or a second language. Demand for English tutoring was lowest with children from homes where the parents used English (Table 5), probably because the parents felt that their children already had adequate exposure. However, these children formed the largest percentage receiving tutoring in the second languages. The reason was that the second languages were essential for advancement, the English-medium homes were generally wealthy, and the children would not have had much out-of-school exposure to second languages in the absence of supplementary tutoring. Many children from non-English-medium homes received classes in English to boost their grades, but the proportion from Malay families was relatively low because those families were generally less prosperous. Table 6 adds a different dimension by showing Sri Lankan data on the subjects with the largest numbers in supplementary tutoring. The list is dominated by science, which is followed by mathematics and then by languages. Tutoring in English appears to have been less prominent, though was still important to some students. Among science students in Year 13, every student in the sample received tutoring for pure and applied mathematics, but only 84 per cent received it for chemistry and 83 per cent for physics. Mathematics was also the most popular subject among Year 6 students, followed by science.35 Characteristics of private tutoring Table 5. Language background and supplementary tutoring in Singapore Language spoken % receiving % receiving between parents tutoring for English tutoring for 2nd languages English 14 57 Mandarin 26 5 Tamil 20 4 Malay 19 1 Chinese dialect or Mandarin and dialect 22 8 Source: Kwan-Terry (1991), p.81. Table 6. Most common subjects for supplementary tutoring, Sri Lanka Subject Year and specialism % of students receiving tutoring Pure mathematics 13/Science 100 Applied mathematics 13/Science 100 Chemistry 13/Science 84 Physics 13/Science 83 Mathematics 11 74 Mathematics 6 69 Sinhala 11 68 Sinhala 6 8 Accounts 13/Science 67 Science 11 67 Source: de Silva (1994a), p.28. These figures had parallels in Kuwait and Malta. In the former, a survey of 934 students in Grades 5-12 found that 77 per cent received tutoring in mathematics, 55 per cent in physics, 45 per cent in chemistry, and 12 per cent in biology (Hussein, 1987, p.94). Classes in English attracted only 15 per cent of the sample, and classes in Arabic attracted only 6 per cent. In Malta, 68 per cent of respondentsThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 36 to a survey of primary and secondary pupils received tutoring in mathematics compared with 49 per cent in English and 31 per cent in Maltese (Falzon and Busuttil, 1988, p.51). The research by Tseng (1998, p.96) also showed that mathematics was the most popular subject among senior secondary students in Taiwan. Nearly half the students in her sample were receiving supplementary tutoring in mathematics, while a third received it in English.37 III. Producers and consumers Producers: who provides private tutoring, and how? For two reasons, presentation of more elaborate profiling of the actors involved in private tutoring begins here with the producers rather than the consumers. The first reason is that in some settings, supply creates demand. In these circumstances, tutoring exists because the producers make it available and recommend pupils to take advantage of the availability, and/or because the consumers find out that the product is available and then decide to make use of it even though they would not have demanded it if the service had not been readily available. The second and allied reason is that the nature of the supply is a major determinant of the types of consumers who are attracted. Tutors who go to private homes and teach on a one-to- one basis serve a different market to those tutors who operate large classes. For understanding of dynamics, an important distinction is between two types of situations: • where the tutors are also teachers in the mainstream system, and are receiving additional payment for tutoring pupils who are already their students in the mainstream; and • where the tutors provide tutoring for students for whom they do not otherwise have any responsibility. The former situation, which is found in countries as diverse as Cyprus, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nigeria and Russia, is widely considered very problematic. The teachers would justify the practice on the grounds that they are unable to cover the syllabus during official class hours and/or are paid such low salaries for their mainstream duties that they are forced to find ways to supplement their income. Critics of such circumstances point out that assistance to pupils who are really in need should be part of teachers’ normal work, for which they should not receive extra pay. Critics add that some teachers deliberately slow down their mainstream work in order to ensure thatThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 38 syllabuses are not fully covered and that markets therefore exist for their services. Worse, critics point out, an element of blackmail might be involved: teachers might inform their mainstream students, either directly or indirectly, that pupils who do not come to the private lessons will be penalized in class tests and other activities. Teachers may also deliberately fail students in order to create a market for their services. These practices are said to be common in Cambodia, for example (Box 2). Teachers in that country have considerable autonomy, including as regards decisions on which students will be required to repeat grades. Parents might consider it cheaper to pay for supplementary tutoring in order to ensure that their children are promoted to the next grade than to find that their children incur the costs and other problems associated with repetition. Box 2. Same class, same teacher Time for the end of the school day in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. A senior pupil bangs a pipe against the suspended wheel hub that serves the same purpose as a bell in other countries. But in Samith Pheng’s Grade 6 class, most students leave their desks only for a short break. Public schooling has ended, and private schooling has begun. Many teachers in Cambodia supplement their official salaries by giving supplementary tutoring to their own pupils. Pupils pay a daily fee direct to the teacher for each lesson. “We don’t like the system,” complains one parent, “but we have no power to change it.” Parents know that many teachers deliberately omit coverage of some parts of the curriculum during the normal school day in order to ensure a market for supplementary tutoring. Parents realize that if their children do not take the supplementary classes, they will probably be asked to repeat the grade next year. This would waste the children’s time, and would cost as much as paying for the supplementary lessons. Grade 6 is an especially important stage because it is the year of the school-leaving examination. Because they have no choice, most parents accept these arrangements as a normal feature of life. Moreover, many parents have sympathy for the teachers because they realize that official salaries are too low for the teachers to support their families without extra income. Government officials also have misgivings about the system, but so far have been unable to change it.39 Producers and consumers Recognizing the dangers of such a situation, some governments forbid mainstream teachers to accept payment for supplementary tutoring of their own students. Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Morocco are countries in which such regulations are enforced. However, mainstream teachers in those countries are still permitted to accept payment for tutoring pupils from other schools. Tutors who are not already employed as mainstream teachers may vary widely in characteristics. Variation of course exists in the mainstream; but it is much greater in the shadow system. Tutors may be young or old, well qualified or poorly qualified, male or female, full-time or part-time, and employed by an institution or self-employed. University students commonly supplement their incomes by providing tutoring for secondary and perhaps primary school children; and, in some societies, secondary school students earn money by tutoring primary school pupils. According to Harnisch (1994, p.327), approximately one third of teachers in Japanese juku are university students. Research in Malaysia reported by Chew and Leong (1995, p.26) indicated that 72 per cent of a sample of tutors whose qualifications were known by their students had university degrees, 18 per cent had college qualifications, 7 per cent had higher school certificate qualifications, and 3 per cent had school certificate qualifications. Urban students were more likely to be taught by graduates than were rural students. In all countries, directors of tutoring schools commonly make a particular effort to recruit retired teachers who are still up to date with their subjects. However, tutors are often considerably younger as well as considerably older than mainstream teachers. Some tutors offer highly specific skills, e.g. for particular grades of particular subjects and perhaps for particular segments of the curriculum. In Macau, schools are diverse in their curricular approaches, and a tutor who specializes in a branch of modern mathematics for pupils in one school may serve a different market from a neighbouring specialist in a branch of traditional mathematics for pupils in another school. In Central and Eastern Europe, specialist tutors of senior secondary students focus on the specific examinations for entry to individual faculties in individual universities. In Cambodia,The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 40 street-side advertisements proclaim the specific parts of the specific books which tutors will teach at particular times. This is a much more specialized service than is typically offered by mainstream schools. A common conception is that full-time tutors, particularly the ‘star’ tutors who adopt flashy lifestyles in order to appeal to young clients, can gain much higher incomes than teachers in mainstream schools. This conception has some validity, but incomes are not uniformly high. Although full-time tutors in Japanese juku have much more fragile conditions of employment than their counterparts in mainstream schools, they have only slightly higher earnings. In the mid-1990s, the average starting annual salary for new college graduates in large juku was the equivalent of US$24,000, compared with US$20,000 in Tokyo public high schools (Russell, 1997, p.166). These figures remained comparable after several years’ experience, when the average annual wage was the equivalent of US$52,000 for a 30-year-old juku teacher and US$54,000 for a 32-year-old Tokyo public high school teacher. Because the tutors have to respond to market needs, they usually make a special effort to find out what students want and then to respond to it. In the words of one Hong Kong tutor: “I care about my performance in the tuition centre because I regard students as customers, not like in the formal school” (cited in Tseng, 1998, p.62). Such comments would be especially typical of tutors who do not have an automatic flow of clients from particular mainstream schools. Tutorial centres in Hong Kong commonly increase their attractiveness by offering the most recent technology, including CD-ROMs and the Internet. Some centres offer prizes for academic success, and expand their markets by advertising through leaflets, posters, newspapers, magazines, cinemas and television. In most settings, however, recommendations operate more effectively than formal advertising. The Malaysian research reported by Chew and Leong (1995, p.24) indicated that 71 per cent of respondents identified their tutors through friends. Fourteen per cent selected tutors in response to advertisements, while 12 per cent followed the recommendations of41 Producers and consumers their mainstream teachers. Only 7 per cent indicated that the tutors had contacted the students first. Of course market share and financial gains are not the only motives which lead individuals to provide tutoring. Russell (1996, p.261) pointed out that many of the tutors for Kumon’s mathematics materials in Japan are housewives who are motivated by a desire to help others as well as to find a socially-acceptable form of part-time employment. And in Singapore, important help is given by community organizations. One of these is the Council for the Development of the Singapore Muslim Community, better known by its abbreviated Malay name, Mendaki. The main rationale for the creation of this body in 1981 was to help the Malay community catch up with the Chinese and Indians in educational performance. This, it was argued, would promote Malay participation in the economy, and avoid the racial disharmony caused by social imbalances. The government gives Mendaki financial support, and permits the organization to use public schools for after-school tutoring. The government also trains tutors, who work voluntarily or for low fees. Following the Mendaki lead, other ethnic groups established associations during the 1990s. The Singapore Indian Development Association was founded in 1991 and the Chinese Development Assistance Council in 1992. Also in 1992, the Eurasian Association, which had been established in the 1980s, launched an endowment fund to finance education and welfare programmes for the Eurasian community. While most supplementary tutoring in Singapore is offered on commercial terms, these community bodies provide significant help to pupils from low-income groups (Tan, 1995, pp.339-53; Bray, 1996b, pp.12-13). Finally, some tutors and institutions are of course more popular than others. While some individual tutors need to hunt for clients, the reputation of others ensures long waiting lists. The same applies at the institutional level. At the popular end of the spectrum, Harnisch (1994, p.325) reports on a juku in Japan which only accepted 1,868 Grade 4 students out of 11,000 applicants, and held 6,000 applicants on stand-by status. Some juku set examinations on which to determine entry; and juku even exist to prepare students for the examinations to enter other juku!The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 42 Consumers: who receives private tutoring, and why? Turning from the producers to the consumers, some elaboration is needed on the characteristics of students receiving supplementary tutoring. Casual observers sometimes assume that the dominant groups of students receiving tutoring comprise pupils whose academic performance is weak and who therefore need remedial assistance. In fact the opposite is the case: the dominant group is of students whose performance is already good, and who want to maintain their competitive edge. Tseng (1998, p.97) showed that in Hong Kong and Taiwan, proportions of students in high-ranking schools taking tutoring were much greater than proportions in low-ranking schools. A similar observation was made in Germany by Toyama-Bialke (1997). In that country, private tutoring is generally uncommon; but the few students who do receive tutoring are mostly from the elite academic schools. Even in such a situation, however, students’ self-perceptions about their academic standards may be at variance with objective reality. Table 7 reports responses by Hong Kong students when asked about the single most important reason for taking supplementary tutoring. By far the greatest proportion indicated that it was because their academic performance was not very good. This can be explained by the fact that it is a relative statement, in which respondents compared themselves with the high achievers in their classes rather than with some absolute standard or even with the average for their grades. Also, the perception probably also reflected parental pressures on the students. This sample included students from all grades, and so was less dominated by public examinations than would have been revealed by surveys of upper secondary education. The Hong Kong data can usefully be placed alongside data from Malta and Sri Lanka. Figure 3 presents data from Maltese secondary school pupils on the reasons why they received tutoring. Whereas the Hong Kong researchers (Table 7) asked pupils to indicate the single most important reason for taking tutoring, thereby deriving proportions which added up to 100 per cent, the Maltese researchers43 Producers and consumers Table 7. Main reasons given by Hong Kong students for taking supplementary tutoring My academic performance is not very good 71% I don’t understand what the teachers teach in class 14% To prepare for the public examination 8% My parents want me to 2% No one in my family can help me with my homework 1% Because some of my classmates have private tutoring 1% Other reasons 2% Don’t know/hard to say 2% Source: Lee (1996), p.15. permitted multiple answers and reported the proportions out of the total sample who reported particular reasons. Figure 3 shows examinations to be the strongest motivator, followed by a desire to supplement school learning and by a perception that they were underachieving. Although the categories in the Sri Lankan data (Table 8) do not quite match those in Hong Kong or Malta, they basically indicate a similar situation in that country. Figure 3. Reasons given by Maltese students for taking supplementary tutoring Source: Falzon and Busuttil (1988), p.55. Examination Supplement to school learning Underachievers Revision Subjects not taught in school Prolonged absence from school Individual attention Parents' inability to help pupils School teacher' inadequacies 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 44 Table 8. Reasons given by Year 13 Sri Lankan students for taking supplementary tutoring (%) Arts Science Commerce stream stream stream 1. I want to obtain higher marks 98 94 97 2. In tuition classes, I learn how to answer examination questions 97 94 89 3. Syllabuses are not covered in school 89 72 75 4. I can be well prepared when the teacher starts a new topic 88 86 85 5. I can use my free time profitably because of tuition 83 68 78 6. All students who learned from my tutor have passed well 77 49 76 7. The amount of subject matter taught in school is not sufficient to pass the examination 72 56 71 Highest number responding 206 215 199 Source: Gunawardena (1994), p.9. As already indicated, students are more likely to demand tutoring at the secondary than at the primary level. This is especially the case in systems where the secondary examinations form a watershed between who can continue in school and who cannot; but it is also evident in systems with almost universal transition from one stage to another but in which major differences exist in the prestige of institutions and courses to which students can proceed. Another factor is that parents of primary children are more likely to feel competent themselves to help their children with homework. Even then, however, some may feel more competent than others (Box 3).45 Producers and consumers An additional factor is peer pressure among parents. Sharma (1997, p.18) points out that in Taiwan: When parents find out that other parents are sending their children to bushiban [tutoring centres], they get worried and do the same. In some societies a certain prestige can be derived from being seen to send children to particular high-cost tutors. Research on gender biases in this domain has shown varied findings. Conventional wisdom anticipates that in many cultures parents are more willing to invest in the education of boys than of girls. Hussein’s (1987) study appeared to show this to be the case in Kuwait. However, rough parity between genders has been reported in Egypt (Fergany, 1994, p.75), Malaysia (Marimuthu et al., 1991, p.28), Malta (Falzon and Busuttil, 1988, p.36), Sri Lanka (de Silva 1994a, p.24) and Taiwan (Tseng, 1998, p.98). In Japan, Stevenson and Baker (1992, p.1649) did not find statistical differences by gender in attendance of after-school classes, though they did note that males were more likely to join correspondence courses and were more willing to join yobiko for full-time tutoring after leaving school if the grades achieved at school were not considered good enough. Box 3. A parent’s concern Mr Goh Soon Heng is a Singaporean who sends both of his school-aged children to private tutoring classes. He works as a vending-machine salesman, and he and his wife together earn about S$1,000 (US$770) per month. He spends about S$130 of this on English and mathematics tutoring for his two sons, aged 10 and 14. His four-year-old daughter may also need tutoring eventually, he says. Mr Goh feels that he has little choice in this matter. “If I don’t give them, and they fail, I will put the blame on myself.” He explains that he is not highly educated, and cannot himself guide his children with their school work. “The syllabus is more advanced than in my time,” he points out. Source: George (1992).46 IV. Educational, social and economic impact This section begins by reporting data on the impact of private supplementary tutoring on students’ academic achievement. Different studies have reached divergent findings, and this domain is in particular need of further research. The section then turns to the impact of tutoring on the operation of mainstream schooling. As observed at the beginning of this booklet, the shadow system of supplementary tutoring differs from most other shadows in the ways that it affects the body which it imitates. Private supplementary tutoring also has major implications for aspects of social and economic development. Private tutoring and academic achievement Identification of the impact of private supplementary tutoring on individuals’ academic achievement is difficult because so many other factors are involved. Also, from a research perspective, populations of students who do and do not receive supplementary tutoring cannot easily be compared because they are rarely uniform in other characteristics. Studies need to allow for urban/rural and socio- economic differences; and ideally they should allow for the fact that in many (but not all) cases the majority of pupils who receive private supplementary tutoring are those whose academic performance is already good. Path analysis provides one way to deal with the existence of multiple interlocking variables, and studies of this type have been conducted in Mauritius and Greece. Other studies which have had a different approach and are also worth reporting here have been conducted in Japan and Egypt. In Mauritius, a test of reading literacy was administered to a carefully selected sample of Grade 6 pupils in 1995, and the results compared with a number of input variables (Kulpoo, 1998). Figure 4 shows the resulting path diagram indicating the factors affecting literacy scores. The researchers distinguished between non-malleable47 Educational, social and economic impact factors, which cannot be shaped by planners, and malleable factors which can be the focus of interventions. Supplementary tutoring was placed in the latter category, together with family interest, regularity of homework, human resources in school, and frequency of teacher/ parent interaction. Extra tuition was shown to be the strongest malleable factor, though not as strong as the non-malleable factors of English spoken in the home and the socio-economic level of the home. Supplementary tutoring explained considerably more of the variation in test scores than did the frequency of teachers’ meetings with parents, the location of pupils’ homes, the nature of school furniture, or the access to classroom libraries. The work in Greece by Polydorides (1986) was conducted at the senior high school level. It also found some positive correlations between private tutoring and academic achievement, but they were much weaker and not completely consistent. Figure 5 shows the path diagram which identified determinants of scores in students’ Grade Point Averages (GPAs). It distinguishes between private tutoring and cramming. To explain the difference, Polydorides (1986, p.5) indicated that: Cramming refers to preparation for the national examination organized privately either in special institutions (established for this purpose) or as tutorials on an individual basis .... [T]he state has established its own cramming centres for secondary school graduates wishing to participate repeatedly in the national examination. Private cramming continues parallel to the state operations for these graduates, with the same intensity as ever. Presumably the variable X 2 refers to private operations, while X 3 refers to state operations. Figure 5 shows a small positive correlation between tutoring and achievement as measured by GPAs, though a separate analysis of achievement as measured by scores in the national examinations showed a small negative correlation.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 48 Figure 4. Path diagram for analysis of factors affecting reading literacy, Mauritius Source: Kulpoo (1998), p.81. 12 33 14 8 22 17 31 10 12 18 33 15 12 9 21 22 24 16 11Some English spoken in pupil's home Family interest in homework and attendance Pupil given regular homework Pupil score on reading literacy test Pupil has tuition outside school hours Human resources in school Frequency of teacher/parent interaction Physical resources in school Pupil has access to a class library The vertical lines with two arrowheads are non-causal correlations Note: The regression equation using all predictors above explained 35 per cent of pupil variance in reading scores. Socioeconomic level of in pupil's home Location of pupil's home (rural/urban) PUPIL LITERACY ‘NON-MALLEABLE’ HOME CONTEXT ‘MALLEABLE’ HOME, SCHOOL AND SYSTEM FACTORS49 Educational, social and economic impact Figure 5. Path diagram for analysis of influences on Senior High School achievement, Greece Variables: X 1 = achievement at the end of senior high school (GPA); X 2 = private tutoring (week-hours); X 3 = cramming school (months); X 4 = senior high school track; X5= educational attainment in junior high (GPA); X6= senior high school educational/ operational characteristics (students per teacher in examination subjects); X 7 = community type; X 8 = family’s material status; X 9 = student’s work status; X 10 = father’s occupation; X11= father’s education (number of years completed); X12= mother’s education; X 13 = gender. Source: Polydorides (1986), p.17. In Japan, Sawada and Kobayashi (1986) analyzed the effect of juku attendance on mathematics performance of upper elementary and lower secondary students. The study extended work conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, and covered 375 pupils in eight schools. The researchers observed that time spent in juku gave students greater opportunities to learn, and that this resulted in higher scores in problems requiring arithmetic calculation and algebra. However, the researchers did not find higher scores in arithmetic application X13 X4 X2 X5 X6 X3 X12 X1 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 0.0 6 0.05 0.09 0. 06 0.06 0. 16 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.18 0.58 0.230.39 – 0.33 – 0.0 7 – 0.07 – 0.08 0.12 0.07 – 0. 05 0.07 0.12 0.13 0.13 0.09The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 50 and geometry (Sawada; Kobayashi, 1986, p.22). This may be taken to reflect the types of curricular emphasis which dominated juku classes. Finally, two studies have been conducted in Egypt. In 1990/91 the Ministry of Education surveyed 18,000 pupils in the primary and preparatory stages of education (reported by Fergany, 1994, p.9). Variables that were found to have no significant effect on pupil achievement included gender, private tutoring and in-school tutoring groups. Fergany and colleagues conducted follow-up research at the primary level in 1994. This survey focused on three different parts of the country and covered 4,729 households with 7,309 individuals. The researchers again found no statistically significant correlations between private tutoring and achievement (Fergany, 1994, p.108). One conclusion from these mixed results is that more research is needed on the topic. Meanwhile, planners cannot assume that private supplementary tutoring either does or does not necessarily increase academic achievements of pupils. Much presumably depends on: • the content and mode of delivery of the tutoring; • the motivation of the tutors and the tutees; • the intensity, duration and timing of tutoring; and • the types of pupils who receive tutoring. Logically, one would expect, as noted by Sawada and Kobayashi (1986), that even a minimum of tutoring would provide more time on task and therefore more opportunity to learn. However, the research has not demonstrated that this is always translated into achievement as measured by test scores. Impact on mainstream schooling The next question concerns the implications of private supplementary tutoring on other aspects of mainstream schooling. Evidence from a range of contexts shows that it may affect the51 Educational, social and economic impact dynamics of teaching and learning in mainstream classes. For example, where all students receive supplementary tutoring, mainstream teachers may not need to work so hard. Where some students receive supplementary tutoring but others do not, mainstream teachers may be confronted by greater disparities within their classrooms than would otherwise be the case. Some teachers respond to these disparities by assisting the slower learners; but others may take the students who receive tutoring as the norm, and permit the gaps between students to grow. In the latter case, all parents are placed under pressure to invest in private tutoring for their children. When supplementary tutoring helps students to understand and enjoy their mainstream lessons, it may be considered beneficial. De Silva (1994b, p.5) has observed that supplementary tutoring can enable remedial teaching to be undertaken according to individual needs. Sometimes large gaps in students’ learning are created due to a number of factors such as student and teacher absence, frequent closure of school, ineffective teaching and negligence on the part of the teacher. It is not every school that can boast a full complement of specialist teachers in crucial areas like mathematics, science and English. Immature, inexperienced or unqualified teachers handling these subjects may not be able to lead the students to a proper understanding of the sections taught. Effective private tuition may help overcome these gaps or deficiencies in students’ learning and build their confidence enabling them to compete with others and experience a happy and pleasant life. Supplementary tutoring may also help relatively strong students to get more out of their mainstream classes, exploring various dimensions in greater depth. Yiu (1996, p.78) reported that Hong Kong teachers in his study of upper secondary classes were positive about supplementary tutoring. Among the comments were: • since the school used English as the medium of instruction, students benefited from hearing the content again in Chinese in the tutoring institute;The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 52 • schoolteachers could cover the main ground, while tutors would help consolidate; and • tutors provided extra questions for students, which the schoolteachers were too busy to do. Yiu added (1996, p.66) that some teachers gained ideas from the tutors. One teacher explicitly requested his students to bring materials from the tutorial institute to school, so that the teacher could use them to improve his own teaching. Sometimes, however, tutoring is reported to have a negative effect on mainstream classes. Writing about Kuwait, Hussein (1987, p.92) stated that: Tutoring has caused a great lack of interest on the part of students. They have reached the point of thinking that as long as they can pay someone who will show them how to pass their examinations, they do not need to attend school classes except when they are required to do so by school regulations. Hussein reported (p.92) that in some schools the number of absentees had risen: In particular two months before the school year finally ends [the students] stay at their homes in the morning and attend tutorial institutes in the afternoons. This cripples the school system. A second group of pupils comes to school just to avoid being questioned by the school administration but shows no interest when there. These two groups affect the third group, which is small, of those students who attend intending to learn. This group cannot find a suitable atmosphere to learn because of the behaviour of the class as a whole and also the fact that the teacher is disturbed by the abnormality of the situation. Making a related comment with reference to Sri Lanka, Nanayakkara and Ranaweera (1994, p.14) indicate that some students do not pay adequate attention to lessons in the mainstream53 Educational, social and economic impact system either because they have already covered the topics with the tutor, or because they are unimpressed by the teaching styles in the mainstream system. Nanayakkara and Ranaweera referred to a study by the Ministry of Education which, they said (p.14), indicated that the majority of students, particularly in the higher grades, felt that the quality of instruction in the tuition class was superior to that in the school. This has a negative influence on the respect they have for and confidence in the classroom teacher and his teaching. Such an unsatisfactory state of affairs ... leads to a further deterioration of classroom teaching resulting in a vicious circle where negative student behaviour and non- participation in the teaching-learning process leads to poor quality teaching, poor quality teaching leads to private tuition, and private tuition leads to negative student behaviour in the class which in turn leads to further deterioration of classroom teaching and so on. The Japanese data provided by Sawada and Kobayashi (1986, p.9) are also instructive in this respect. Many teachers, especially in the lower secondary schools, reported that pupils who attended juku were good at computational skills. However, they said that the pupils worked mechanically and without understanding underlying meanings. Forty-five per cent of the secondary Form 1 teachers added that the pupils attending juku did not take the mainstream mathematics classes seriously; and between 27 per cent (secondary Form 1) and 50 per cent (primary Grade 5) of teachers indicated that pupils who attended juku refused to participate in after-school activities. Private tutoring may also lead to imbalances in the allocation of teachers to particular grades within individual schools. Where mainstream teachers are tutoring their own pupils, teachers are likely to prefer classes in higher grades and/or classes in which examination pressure is greatest and therefore in which demand for tutoring is greatest (Box 4). In turn, this may mean that relatively weak teachers are allocated to the lower grades, and that the foundations of the system are threatened.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 54 For many participants, supplementary tutoring also leads to fatigue. Most obviously affected are the pupils who go straight from mainstream school to supplementary class; but also affected are the tutors, especially when they are also mainstream teachers. Concerning Egypt, this has been mentioned by Hargreaves (1997, p.169). It has also been observed in Sri Lanka, where, according to de Silva (1994a, p.5), everybody is tired because of the “continuous teaching-learning process going on from morning until evening on weekdays and during weekends and school holidays [which] denies both teachers and students sufficient rest and recreation”. Not only does this produce fatigue in both teachers and pupils, he states, it makes them ‘relax’ when at school, thereby reducing the productivity of that part of each day. Supplementary tutoring is of course less likely to lead to fatigue for tutors who are not also teachers in the mainstream system. However, a different problem may arise: that the mainstream loses some of its most talented personnel because they decide to work in the shadow system rather than in the mainstream. This problem has been evident in countries as different as Costa Rica, Lithuania and Senegal. Box 4. Securing the ‘best’ jobs in schools Mikumi Primary School is on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania. As in many other schools in Dar es Salaam, supplementary tutoring has become an institutionalized way through which teachers raise their salaries. Parents are expected to pay fixed rates: 1,000 shillings (US$1.50) per month and per subject for Standards 1, 2 and 3, 1,500 shillings for Standards 4 and 5, and 2,000 shillings per month for Standards 6 and 7. Approximately 40 per cent of Standard 1 pupils pay for tutoring; but the proportion rises to 70 per cent in Standard 7. The headteacher is under considerable pressure to allocate the ‘best’ jobs to certain teachers. The best jobs are seen as the ones which will guarantee most money, namely teaching of mathematics, English and science in Standard 7. The other subjects and the other grades suffer from varying degrees of neglect. Source: Vimpany (1998), p.13.55 Educational, social and economic impact Another factor, especially prominent in systems where supplementary tutoring is provided by teachers who already have responsibility for their tutees in the mainstream system, concerns coverage of the syllabus. In a Moroccan survey by Caillods et al. (1998, p.119), 62 per cent of science teachers at the collège (junior secondary) level stated that the syllabus was so full that they could not cover all of it during normal school hours. Allied to this was the fact that 34 per cent of science teachers at this level provided supplementary tutoring. In the lycées (senior secondary schools), 70 per cent of teachers said that they could not cover the curriculum during normal hours, and an equivalent proportion indicated that they provided supplementary tutoring. One major problem with this situation is that teachers might have an incentive to describe the curriculum as too full, and, as already noted, might deliberately slow down their pace of delivery in order to ensure that they have a market for the after-school supplementary classes. This is said to be a widespread practice in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Egypt, for example. Some teachers in those countries even deliberately omit from their mainstream lessons parts of the curriculum which they know are essential for success in examinations. Such teachers also have a vested interest in a harsh examination system and in the possibility of pupils repeating grades, and are thus likely to favour features of the education system which are not necessarily in the interests of the pupils. Once again, however, much depends on the nature of the society and on the framework of the environment within which tutoring is or is not provided. Falzon and Busuttil (1988, p.113) reported that teachers did not favour the scale of supplementary tutoring and the early age at which pupils commonly commenced it in Malta. A quarter of the teachers in their sample considered supplementary tutoring unnecessary at any level; and most of those that did favour it, primarily did so for reasons which could be considered educationally sound, namely to provide instruction in subjects not taught in school, to help underachievers, and to help pupils who had been absent for long periods.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 56 Moreover, analysis of the shadow education system must take full account of the positive as well as the negative aspects. In their efforts to respond to market needs, some entrepreneurs are innovative in both content and delivery (Box 5). Further, at least in the elementary years, many Japanese juku, which are frequently depicted as dark dens of cramming and memorization, come closer to being extracurricular homerooms. Russell (1997, p.158) notes that one survey in Tokyo found that the most popular reason for enrolling children in juku was “to raise children’s motivation to study”; and another poll found that the least cited reason for going to juku was “to learn test-taking techniques”. In a study by the Japanese Ministry of Education, parents of elementary school pupils most often said that the benefit of attending a juku was that the children learned how to study by themselves. Finally, the curriculum emphasized by tutorial institutions, especially ones of the cramming type, may be contrasted with that in mainstream schools. Especially in public systems of education, schools Box 5. Harnessing technology for education In order to attract students, some tutorial institutions make great efforts to harness the latest technological advances. One such institution is Nagase Brothers, one of Japan’s largest juku. This company, which is among the nine juku listed on the stock exchange, uses satellites to relay lectures by Tokyo professors to 30,000 high school and ‘cram’ students sitting in 680 franchise and company-owned classrooms nationwide. Students listen to the lecturers, whom they already know through test prep books, in screening rooms. They can fax and e-mail questions to the lecturer, and review the lesson by re- watching a video or studying a company-produced booklet. The company produces 2,000 new lectures a year, for which it owns the rights. By applying technology and business approaches to traditional methods of instruction, Nagase is creating an educational system reminiscent of Japanese manufacturing processes that can be economically reproduced and distributed to far-flung markets. The approach has enabled a relative newcomer to leapfrog over the long-established tutoring institutes which have traditionally relied on the lengthy and expensive process of building schools near train stations and hiring local teachers. Source: Russell (1997), p.166.57 Educational, social and economic impact are expected to achieve a wide range of goals. The goals may include development of rounded individuals who have sporting and musical as well as academic interests, and promotion of courtesy, civic awareness and national pride. Mainstream schools may also be required to keep all students of one grade together, in order to reduce labelling of low achievers. Examination-oriented tutorial institutes, by contrast, cut what they perceive to be irrelevant content in order to focus on passing examinations, and may have much less hesitation about grouping students by ability. Many analysts view this phenomenon negatively, arguing that the tutorial institutes distort the overall curriculum which has been designed with careful balance by specialists in that task. However, the phenomenon may also be seen as an expression of public demand, and perhaps even as a check on curriculum developers who might otherwise become too idealistic in their goals. Social implications Under the heading of social implications, three areas demand particular attention. They are: the consequences of pressure on students, the impact on social relationships, and the implications for social inequalities. Pressure on students It is obvious that children who attend both mainstream and supplementary classes are placed under considerable pressure. “Four hours’ sleep for success, but five hours’ sleep for failure” was at one time a well-known phrase in Japan, which referred to strategies considered necessary for passing the college-entrance examinations (Tsukada, 1991, p.8), and which both reflected and contributed to the culture of supplementary tutoring in that country. Other societies may be less extreme; but pressure may still be very evident at all levels (Box 6). In Mauritius, one Minister of Education (quoted by Foondun, 1992, p.26) has queried the appropriateness of social forces which lead children to spend an average of nine hours a day in private tutoring and regular schooling, when adults in that country have achieved a seven-hour standard day. In effect, he pointed out, children are made to work for longer hours than their parents. A government White Paper asserted (Mauritius, 1997, p.7) that:The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 58 Box 6. The pressures on schoolchildren - a Hong Kong perspective Source: Cheng (1977), p.19. Girl 1: I must do my homework Boy: I must go to the private tutoring class Girl 2: I must go back to prepare for the Bio test tomorrow Girl 1: I think we’ve only got enough time for the ‘nuclear bomb’ game Boy and Girl 2: OK BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Girl 1: This ‘advanced’ education system makes our play time shorter and shorter.59 Educational, social and economic impact Our children are unable to live their young life fully. They are largely abused by their parents’ over concern for diplomas and certificates, thus putting enormous pressure on young brains and probably setting them into undesirable attitude patterns as a result of a super competitive education system and a work environment that has no place for initiatives, adaptability and creativity .... Another report on Mauritius (UNICEF, 1994, p.36) observed that the pressure to pass the Certificate in Primary Education examination was so great that in several cases each year it burned out the learning momentum of the children. Principals, the report added, have talked about children coming to their secondary schools in a state of physical and psychological depletion. “Failure can stigmatize a child”, the report remarked, “and success is obtained at too great a cost”. On the more positive side, it may be argued, pressure may also bring out the best in students and stretch them to maximize their potential. For example, East-Asian societies influenced by Confucian traditions tend to place great value on discipline and dedication, and to see the pressure applied by supplementary tutoring as generally beneficial. To some extent, therefore, the degree of pressure that is considered appropriate is determined by social and cultural norms. Some educators would add that where supplementary tutoring helps pupils to keep up with their peers, it may protect their self-esteem. These commentators would therefore assert that although pressure may come from one side, it may alleviate pressure on a different side. Much may also depend on the level and type of tutoring. Russell’s (1996) analysis of the Kumon approach to teaching mathematics in Japan, which goes from pre-school to college levels but is most popular in the lower primary grades, found that most children considered it an unthreatening experience. Russell (1996, p.259) quoted research which indicated that nearly 40 per cent of the families who enrolled their children in Kumon classes did so because the children liked the experience.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 60 However, many analysts concerned with other contexts, including higher levels of education and other forms of tutoring, consider the negative aspects outweigh the positive ones. Wijetunge (1994, p.16) is among such people, and has pointed out that in Sri Lanka: Immediately after school the child is rushed to tuition class after a hasty snack. At tuition, his skills and abilities are relentlessly pitted against those of his age mates, for competition is the name of the game and the prowess of the tutor rests on the results he produces. The age-appropriate developmental tasks such as building wholesome attitudes towards oneself, learning to get along with peers, developing conscience, morality and a scale of values stand a very poor chance in this climate of cruel competition. Wijetunge adds that sporting and leisure activities get crowded out by supplementary tutoring, and points out that book-learning and examination scores are often achieved at the expense of other types of education which are also arguably of major importance. In the Malaysian survey conducted by Marimuthu et al. (1991, p.87), 36 per cent of students agreed with the statement “Tuition dominates our lives”, and only 18 per cent disagreed. More research is needed on this topic, but the number of cases of student depression and even suicides in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan that are related to schooling problems provides a stark reminder of the impact of extreme pressure on young minds (Zeng; LeTendre, 1998). Social relationships De Silva (1994a, p.6) pointed out that when children are away from home most of the time, family bonds of affection are inevitably weakened. Youths may be poorly supervised at and on their way to/ from tutoring centres, and this, he added, has contributed to significant social problems. Further, students sometimes rush to tutoring classes without proper food or rest, and after the classes they return home so late and tired that they are denied the free time needed to explore their own personal interests. Very often they are left without any time for religious observance, to the extent that church leaders in Sri61 Educational, social and economic impact Lanka have demanded that tutoring centres should close on Sunday mornings to allow the students to join religious activities. However, this picture should be balanced by noting the positive sides of structured out-of-school learning in some societies. In Rio de Janeiro, the largest city in Brazil, many parents send their children to after-school tutoring because they do not want the children to be hanging about on the streets which are potentially dangerous (Paiva et al., 1997). Supplementary tutoring may also provide a healthy framework within which young people can develop and can meet peers. Russell (1997, p.161) observed that close friendships may develop in Japanese juku, especially in the small neighbourhood classes run by retired teachers and housewives. She highlighted a juku teacher who consciously tried to create a club-like atmosphere and organized weekend hiking excursions. Research has indicated that 40 per cent of elementary-age users said they liked going to juku because they made friends, and a Japanese sociologist has observed that many middle school girls and boys find juku to be socially exciting, with the trading of notes, flirting, and the opportunity to meet students from other schools. Also important to some parents is that the tutors take much of the responsibility for enforcing the discipline of study, leaving the parents free for softer sides of harmony and leisure with their children. Social inequalities Like most forms of private education, supplementary tutoring is more easily available to the rich than to the poor. As such, private supplementary tutoring seems to be a mechanism which maintains and perhaps increases social inequalities. Where patterns become extreme, they could pose a threat to overall social stability (Box 7). Children from rich families are more easily able to pay for, and therefore obtain, both greater amounts of, and superior quality, tutoring. In Mauritius, Joynathsing et al. (1988, pp.32-33) showed that in primary Grade 1 the proportion of children receiving private tutoring in the highest income group was 7.5 times greater than the proportion of children in the lowest income groups, whereas the equivalent proportion in Grade 6 was 1.6:1.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 62 However, the picture is not completely straightforward. Rich families also have other ways to maintain social superiority, and may use these ways as well as, or instead of, supplementary tutoring, particularly if decision-makers in these families perceive supplementary tutoring to involve excessive effort. Moreover, middle- income and even poor families may choose to invest in supplementary tutoring in order to gain social mobility through the examination system. Kwan-Terry’s survey (1991, p.88) indicated that in Singapore the highest demand for tutoring in English was in families which did not speak English in the home and in which the father had an education below the university level but had middle-income earnings. In Cameroon, many of the clients for private tutors are medium- and low-income students in public schools. Richer families send their children to private schools, which are considered qualitatively superior and provide a form of education which many parents consider Box 7. Social inequality and social instability Egypt is among countries in which private tutoring is widespread, and in which much tutoring is provided by mainstream teachers to their own pupils. In many cases, the mainstream personnel teach less than they should during the school day in order to ensure that they have demand for the supplementary lessons. Students who cannot pay for extra classes thus receive less teaching than they should. The situation was sharply condemned by Egypt’s then Minister of Education, Dr Hussein Kamel Bahaa el Din, who was among the people trying to tackle the problem. Private tutoring, he wrote in 1997 (p.99): deprives financially limited students from receiving the necessary instruction from their teacher. This situation leads the deprived groups to become dissatisfied with their status and potentially resentful of those who have been able to have access to private tutoring or those who have successfully completed their examinations. This is a threat to social peace and is divisive. Meanwhile, those who have had access to private tutoring and were able to complete their examinations successfully will be unable to live in a peaceful environment because they will be living among a majority who had been deprived of the knowledge of their teacher, from a good education, and consequently from an honourable career. Such individuals will then be a constant threat to those who monopolized educational opportunities and this indeed is a threat to social peace in our country. Education that starts with a crime will inevitably end with a catastrophe.63 Educational, social and economic impact adequate without supplementation. Poorer families cannot afford this, so instead they seek to bridge the gap by sending their children to private tutors, many of whom are also teachers in the private schools (Tembon, 1999). Much also depends on the types of tutoring as well as the quantity. While mass tutoring institutions in Japan and Hong Kong may be inexpensive, they may also be limited in the extent to which they achieve gains in learning. Richer families can more easily afford one- to-one and small-group tutoring which is more closely tailored to individual needs and which may take place in the children’s homes, while poorer families must tolerate mass-produced forms of tutoring for which the children may have to travel substantial distances. Also important are urban/rural dichotomies. Since supplementary tutoring is in general more readily available in urban than in rural locations, middle-income and poor children in urban locations may have better access than their more prosperous counterparts in rural locations. The phenomenon shows that stratification is based on place of residence as well as on income level. Table 9. Social stratification and private tutoring in Singapore Level Ethnic group House type Total Prim. Sec. Chinese Malay Indian Govt. Govt. Private flat flat house/ 1-3 4-5 flat rooms rooms % of students 32 49 30 32 25 43 25 33 50 receiving tutoring % of tutees taking English 7 2 8 4 4 9 7 2 9 5 5 2 8 9 7 3 4 7 Chinese 48 55 33 59 3 4 32 50 64 Malay 5 6 2 0 19 28 4 4 8 Tamil 1 2 1 0 0 1 4 0 2 1 Mathematics 78 80 80 78 86 69 86 84 59 Science 4 8 5 2 4 8 4 7 6 5 3 5 5 7 4 9 3 4 Source: George (1992), p.29.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 64 In some societies, tutoring also maintains and exacerbates racial inequalities. This partly reflects inequalities in income and differences in urban/rural residence; but it also commonly reflects cultural patterns and the extent to which peoples of different races value certain types of education. Table 4, above, showed statistics on the extent to which students of different racial groups in Malaysia received tutoring. Table 9 supplements this picture with statistics from Singapore, which is an almost completely urban society and which is thus largely unaffected by urban/rural dichotomies. As might be expected, more pupils who lived in private homes received tutoring than did pupils in government-supplied homes; and more pupils in larger government homes received tutoring than did pupils in smaller government homes. These figures reflected income inequalities. The figures also showed racial differences, with Indians receiving the most tutoring, Malays receiving the least, and Chinese occupying the intermediate position. Economic implications The substantial literature on rates of return to education (e.g. Psacharopoulos, 1994; Carnoy, 1997; Bennell, 1998) has almost exclusively focused on mainstream systems of education. However, some of the principles of that literature may be extrapolated to supplementary tutoring. Empirical evidence demonstrates that, in general, individuals with higher levels of formal education attract higher lifetime earnings than individuals with lower levels of education. Advocates of human capital theory (e.g. Psacharopoulos, 1995) explain this by stating that the higher earnings reflect and appropriately reward the skills and attitudes acquired by the individuals during the educational process. An alternative view (Groot; Hartog, 1995) is that education acts as a screening mechanism through which only the individuals with inherent talents and appropriate attitudes are able to move beyond the various barriers. To those who accept either of these hypotheses, supplementary tutoring may be considered in the same light as mainstream schooling. Advocates of human capital theory might consider supplementary65 Educational, social and economic impact tutoring to be even more tightly related to economic enhancement, because it is closely tied to the demands of the market place and because enhanced economic return is among the chief reasons why pupils and their parents invest in it. Advocates of the screening hypothesis would approach the issue from a different standpoint, but reach a similar conclusion about the ways in which pupils who have received greater amounts of tutoring are allocated to more highly remunerated economic positions. However, an alternative approach is less positive about supplementary tutoring. Critics argue that most parts of the sector are parasitic, that they waste both financial and human resources which could be better allocated to other uses, and that in systems which are dominated by traditional examinations, tutoring and associated cramming contribute to a stifling of creativity, which can have a damaging effect on the bases of economic production. These views cannot easily be reconciled. They reflect broader debates on the nature and impact of mainstream education which rest as much on ideological principles as on empirical research. The broad literature on the links between education and development contains many unanswered questions and ambiguous findings (Carnoy, 1995; Heyneman, 1997). No clear formulae can link certain types and amounts of education to certain types and amounts of economic development: an observation which applies as much to supplementary tutoring as to mainstream schooling. In these circumstances, planners and policy-makers would be unwise to adopt rigid approaches. Although Japanese juku of the cramming type are widely condemned as instruments which distort educational processes and damage children’s lives, Japan has undoubtedly achieved remarkable economic success and it appears that the juku have played a major role in promoting that success. Russell (1997, p.155) observed that this is a matter of attitudes as well as skills. Attendance at juku habituates the Japanese to the idea of disciplined study outside school, a fact that may be increasingly important as technological and other changes overtake the ability of mainstream systems to provide permanent foundations for the lives of their pupils.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 66 Supplementary tutoring may also have several important effects on the labour market which help to harness human resources. First, in many societies supplementary tutoring has a sort of child-minding function which liberates parents to take up employment elsewhere. In Malta, Falzon and Busuttil (1988, p.94) found that the highest rates of private tutoring were in families where both parents were employed. This was not just a reflection of the financial resources and the ambition of those parents; it also reflected the fact that families in which both parents were employed wanted structured frameworks for supervision of children. Viewing the phenomenon from a different angle, the existence of facilities for supplementary tutoring permitted both parents to enter the labour force and contribute their skills to the economy. This observation is linked to a second possible effect on the labour market. In Japan, gender expectations remain highly stratified and married women are not normally expected to undertake paid employment. According to Benjamin (1997, p.519), the need for additional income to pay for juku and other forms of supplementary education is among the few culturally acceptable reasons for mothers to seek employment outside the home. In turn, this permits the mothers to contribute their skills to the economy. The third, and perhaps most obvious, effect on the labour market concerns the employment of tutors. This booklet has shown that in some countries, tutoring is a huge enterprise. The corollary is that it employs large numbers of people, who in turn gain incomes and through their spending generate employment for others. While some of the tutors work full-time, others work part-time. Supplementary tutoring provides an avenue for part-time gainful employment for individuals who might otherwise be unemployed and whose talents might thus otherwise lie idle.67 V. Diversity and evolution of education systems Having noted some of the characteristics and implications of private tutoring, it is useful to return to the matter of change over time. As observed above, in some societies, supplementary tutoring has grown significantly during recent decades. In other societies, however, supplementary tutoring remains uncommon. The questions then arising are why tutoring is more evident in some societies than in others, and what forces determine change. Answers to these questions are important to planners seeking to devise appropriate responses for their own societies. The diploma disease and late development effect The year 1976 brought publication of an important book by Ronald Dore entitled: The Diploma Disease (reprinted 1997). The book focused on links between education, qualification and development, and highlighted the extent to which examinations and certificates rather than broader processes of education dominated the school systems of many countries. As Dore explained in his Preface (1976, p.ix): Unfortunately, not all schooling is education. Much of it is mere qualification-earning. And more and more of it becomes so. Everywhere, in Britain as in India, in Russia as in Venezuela, schooling is more often qualification-earning schooling than it was in 1920, or even in 1950. And more qualification-earning is mere qualification-earning – ritualistic, tedious, suffused with anxiety and boredom, destructive of curiosity and imagination; in short, anti- educational. Dore did not devote much specific attention to supplementary tutoring, but it was clearly part of the picture he was painting, especially because so much tutoring was (and is) geared to passing examinations rather than to broader processes of education.The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 68 A central pillar in Dore’s conceptual framework was what he called the late development effect. He suggested (p.72) that: the later development starts (i.e. the later the point in world history that a country starts on a modernization drive): the more widely education certificates are used for occupational selection; the faster the rate of qualification inflation; and the more examination-oriented schooling becomes at the expense of genuine education. Dore sought to demonstrate this hypothesis with particular reference to England, Japan, Sri Lanka and Kenya. He suggested that in England, the symptoms of the disease were relatively mild, but that in the other countries the symptoms became progressively more acute. The main reasons, he hypothesized, lay in the labour market. In Sri Lanka and Kenya, a huge gulf existed between the so-called modern and traditional sectors of the economy. Individuals with modern-sector jobs, access to which was strongly determined by possession of certificates, had salaried incomes which were much higher and more secure than those of their counterparts in the traditional agricultural and informal sectors. Compared with Sri Lanka and Kenya, Japan had more jobs per capita and less unemployment, and had a less marked gap between modern and traditional sectors. However, Dore pointed out, in Japan the question for individuals was not so much ‘job or no job?’, as ‘which job?’. Major differences existed in the earnings, security and fringe benefits of what were considered the best jobs in the best companies, and recruitment for those jobs was chiefly from the prestigious universities. To gain access to those universities, candidates needed excellent examination scores from secondary schools. This in turn had a backwash on lower levels of the school system. The middle schools were preoccupied with preparing entrance examinations for the high schools, the primary schools were preoccupied with the entrance examinations to the middle schools. Thus the pressure for examination success creates a strong demand for supplementary tutoring.69 Diversity and evolution of education systems Dore did not assert that England was devoid of the same pressures. However, he suggested that the manifestations of the diploma disease were less acute in that country, first because the gaps in standard of living between those who possessed advanced certificates and those who did not were less marked, and second because society had additional mechanisms for determining who got what jobs. For present purposes Dore’s work and more recent studies (Dore, 1997; Little, 1997) are helpful as a partial explanation of why supplementary tutoring may be less pervasive in England (and in other parts of Western Europe), and more pervasive in Japan, Sri Lanka and Kenya (and in comparable societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America). The explanation is linked to the existence of wide differentials between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, and to the extent to which examinations, and tutoring which promotes success in those examinations, are a critical determinant of which persons gain economic prosperity. Sri Lanka, Kenya and many other less developed countries remain sharply dual societies in which a gulf remains between modern- and traditional-sector jobs; and Japan and such countries as the Republic of Korea remain societies in which many more modern-sector jobs exist, but in which a wide gulf separates the ‘best’ from the other jobs. Influences of culture and economics Additional factors must also be brought into the picture. Among them are the influences of broad cultural elements and of economics. As noted above, many Asian cultures value disciplined study and are both competitive and status-conscious. This environment favours emphasis on tutoring, and is one reason why Kumon’s mathematics materials have been successful among Asian immigrants in the USA as well as in Japan (Russell, 1996). Cultural factors also help explain why Australia and New Zealand are similar to Western Europe in the general absence of supplementary tutoring, even though their national economies developed even more recently in history than did Japan’s. Since dominant cultures inThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 70 Australia are relatively uncompetitive, few Caucasian Australians (as opposed e.g. to Asian Australians) see the need for supplementary tutoring at the primary level in order to keep ahead of their neighbours; and since mainstream educational structures in Australia are both flexible and supportive of individuals, little private supplementary tutoring is needed to help slower learners to keep up with their peers. At the secondary level, Caucasian Australians certainly see the importance of good examination results; but most are averse to repetitive cramming of facts, which in any case is generally less necessary for the types of examinations sat by the majority of pupils. Further, since differentials in the Australian labour market are less sharp than in Japan or Sri Lanka, the rewards for success and the penalties for failure in examinations are less severe. Another important factor concerns the earnings of mainstream teachers. Teachers in Western Europe, North America and Australasia may not be completely happy about their remuneration, but they do receive salaries which are sufficient for a reasonable standard of living. As such, they are not driven to supplementary tutoring simply in order to survive. The same cannot be said of teachers in Cambodia and Lebanon, for example, which have been afflicted by civil war and in which the national governments have been too weak to demand the high levels of taxation necessary to pay teachers adequate salaries. A similar pattern became evident in the 1990s in Romania, Latvia and other countries of Eastern Europe, where government inability to pay teachers salaries at a level which matched soaring inflation required teachers to find alternative ways to generate income. At the same time, many of the best teachers left the profession altogether, thereby precipitating a decline in the quality of education, which forced parents to pay for supplementation to ensure that their children continued to cover syllabuses adequately. The rise of supplementary tutoring in these countries therefore had little to do with either broad cultures or the nature of examinations, but was instead a response to collapsing structures for paying teachers adequate salaries. Whether for economic or other reasons, however, cultural factors may change. Concerning Japan, Tsukada (1991, p.114) has pointed71 Diversity and evolution of education systems out that the prevailing climate shifted in the 1980s from ambition for social and economic success to an orientation towards self-expression. Despite Japan’s economic prosperity and apparent educational successes as reflected in international rankings of educational achievement, society became increasingly concerned about problems of suicide, bullying, and acquisition of discrete knowledge relevant to examinations rather than to real life (Abiko, 1998, p.17). Responses by the Ministry of Education included change of the school timetable from a standard six-day week towards a standard five-day week, reform of upper secondary education, and improved career guidance. Specific concern was expressed about juku, excessive attendance of which, in the words of an official document (Japan, 1995, p.7) “limits children’s opportunities for play and experience of activities in everyday life appropriate to their stage of development”. Planners decided that the shift to a five-day week would best be achieved in phases. In 1992, the second Saturday in each month was declared a school holiday, and in 1995 the fourth Saturday was added. One concern was that juku attendance would simply expand to fill the gap, thereby defeating the purpose of the reform. However, initial evaluation suggested that this did not occur (Japan, 1995, p.26). Long- term patterns of course remain to be seen; but the developments suggest that government reforms and broader social change may be working together to change dominant patterns in Japan. Comparable moves have been evident in the Republic of Korea (Box 8). Yet while some societies have moved in one direction, others have moved in the opposite direction. Another feature of Japanese reforms may be contrasted with changes in the United Kingdom. The Ministry of Education in Japan (1995, p.7) noted that school rankings were a serious problem which contributed to the competitive nature of society. The document continued (pp.7-8) by noting: a strong tendency to emphasize the single criterion of ‘standard score’ when judging educational institutions, with the result that little attention is paid to the diverse characteristics of Japan’s many universities, junior colleges, upper secondary schools, and other educational institutions. Heavy reliance is also placed on standard score as the soleThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 72 criterion when providing children with career guidance, and in many cases inadequate consideration is given to the diverse personalities, interests, concerns, abilities, and aptitudes of individual children .... This analysis of the causes of excessive competition in entrance examinations highlights the extreme importance of such efforts as avoidance of Box 8. Examination dominance in the Republic of Korea. Critique and response In 1991, a document produced by the Ministry of Education in the Republic of Korea observed (p.71) that: The strong desire of Koreans for education, which has few parallels anywhere in the world, is the major driving force for national development. On the other hand, it has led to pursuit of education with a narrow definition. There is a trend to view education as a mere vehicle for advancing to the next highest level of schooling and of gaining a diploma. It is also interpreted as a means for obtaining higher socio-economic status, which is often mistaken for the goal of life. The document continued (p. 73): As teachers gear education programmes to preparing for examinations, rote-learning and memorization dominate classroom instruction. Focus is on subject matter to be contained in the examinations to the virtual exclusion of reasoning and critical thinking skills. Extra lessons carry youngsters through study well into the night, designed to cram into the head fragmentary knowledge which is likely to be included in the examination. With the primary concern the volume of information retained, teachers lose sight of the real goal of education. Education of the whole person no longer finds its place in the curriculum. No opportunities are provided to nurture moral qualities and aesthetic sensitivity. Subsequently, a Presidential Commission on Education Reform announced proposals to tackle the problem (Republic of Korea, 1996, p.87). Standardization of content and management was to be reduced, and room expanded for nurturing the growth of individual talents and interests. Schools were told to be sensitive to the real needs of their pupils, and regulations were made more flexible. Whether in the long run the reforms will achieve the goal remains to be seen; but at least the authorities were trying.73 Diversity and evolution of education systems evaluations that rank schools vertically, correction of the tendency to base judgements of school quality on a single criterion, and modification of approaches to evaluation that judge children in terms of a single criterion. During the 1990s, the government of the United Kingdom moved in the opposite direction of insisting that schools be ranked on examination scores (Walford, 1996, p.57). Ranking of institutions commonly promoted ranking of individuals. Ironically, the reform was partly based on admiration of perceived academic achievements in societies such as Japan. The United Kingdom has been cited here as a society in which private supplementary tutoring is relatively rare; but public ranking of individuals and schools is among the factors which would encourage such tutoring to grow. Educational changes arising from political changes have also been evident elsewhere. Thus an additional reason for the rise of supplementary tutoring in Central and Eastern Europe during the 1990s was, in the words of Švecová (1998, p.82), that education was “increasingly seen as a means toward social advancement whereas in the past in the communist bloc political connections were perceived as the key factor”. In the very different context of California, USA, private tutoring at the upper secondary level mushroomed after the mid-1990s, when universities and colleges were required to abandon admissions policies which had given special treatment to minority races and instead gave more emphasis to academic performance on standardized tests (Schwartz, 1999, p.51). Such observations emphasize the ways that societies, and therefore demand for private tutoring, may change.74 VI. Policy responses and options Alternative approaches The above discussion shows that government policies concerning supplementary tutoring must begin by assessing the context. Settings in which teachers are so underpaid that they have to provide private tutoring in order to gain adequate incomes are rather different from settings in which teachers are already well paid and simply take extra earnings because the opportunity exists for further enrichment. Likewise, settings in which all supplementary tutoring is provided by personnel who do not teach in mainstream schools are rather different from settings in which mainstream teachers are providing private tutoring for pupils for whom they are already responsible in the mainstream. In the context of this diversity, six basic alternative approaches may be identified as follows: 1. A laissez-faire approach. In many countries, government policy- makers and planners have long traditions of ignoring the shadow education system. In some societies this reflects a deliberate laissez-faire approach, i.e. the policy-makers have considered the matter and have actively decided on a non-interventionist policy. In other societies the policy exists by default, simply because the relevant personnel are overwhelmed by other pressing demands. Advocates of a laissez-faire approach to private supplementary tutoring can state strong justifications for their views. One argument is that markets are best left to regulate themselves in order to secure the optimum balance of quality and prices. Market forces can also provide diversity, and match producers with consumers. Perhaps even more powerful is the argument that governments should keep out of the domain of private tutoring because it is a complex arena with many financial and political traps. In most countries, governments are already heavily75 Policy responses and options involved in mainstream schooling; and in many settings the authorities are trying to reduce their involvement, both to decrease the burden on taxpayers and to give market forces greater rein. Precisely because private tutoring is a shadow sector, it is difficult to control. While the complete laissez-faire approach is probably the most common, it is arguably not to be recommended. As this booklet has shown, supplementary tutoring can have far-reaching implications for the nature of mainstream education systems and for societies and economies. Governments in countries with extensive private tutoring should take a more active approach. 2. Monitoring, but not intervention. One slightly more active approach includes some monitoring to secure data on the size, shape and impact of the sector. This information is relevant to the planning of the mainstream education system and other social services. Arguably, governments should also have data on the incomes of tutors, both for the purposes of collecting taxes and as an item to be considered when determining the salaries of mainstream teachers. In practice, however, few governments collect data on private tutoring unless they intend to take specific action in the sector. 3. Regulation and control. A yet more active form of government engagement is one of regulation and control. Within this category is a wide range of options. For example, regulations might be restricted to non-educational facets such as the availability of fire escapes and adequate ventilation. More extensive regulations might cover fees, class sizes, syllabuses forbidding teachers to give private tutoring, and be backed up by inspections and sanctions. Regulations in Hong Kong specify that organizations giving lessons to eight or more persons at a time, or to 20 or more persons a day, must register with the government’s Education Department. This permits the authorities to know the number of establishments, though it is only a minimalist approach. The government of the Maldives imposes a restriction on the private tutoring that can be undertaken by expatriate (mostly Sri Lankan) secondary teachers. The Maldivian authorities areThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 76 however unwilling to prohibit the practice altogether, since they recognize that opportunities to provide tutoring are among the factors which attract expatriates to take positions. 4. Encouragement. Another approach to the sector would be one of active encouragement. This policy would be based on the argument that tutoring provides instruction that is tailored to the needs of the pupils, and contributes to development of human capital, which benefits not only individuals but also whole societies. To some extent this view underlies the encouragement that the Singaporean Government gives to the tutoring by non-profit- making welfare organizations such as Mendaki and the Singapore Indian Development Association. A parallel initiative, known as Edusave, operates through both schools and families (Box 9). The Singaporean approach is also based on the goal of improved equity, recognizing that some individuals and groups need extra support in competitive societies. Elsewhere, governments might see supplementary tutoring as a way to raise the earnings of teachers and/or to reduce unemployment. Encouragement could remain at the level of words in policy documents, or it could move further to subsidies, dissemination of information to link potential tutors and clients, training courses for tutors, and taxation incentives. Box 9. Meeting individual needs in Singapore In 1993, the Government of Singapore launched an Education Endowment Scheme, popularly known as Edusave. It provides annual grants on the one hand to each school and on the other hand to each child aged six to 16. These funds can be used for educational programmes. Many schools now engage private individuals and/or agencies to conduct courses, e.g. in English speech training, creative thinking, and geography enrichment. The existence of Edusave subsidies permits the costs to individual pupils to be low. Students benefit not only from the allocations to their schools but also from the allocations to them as individuals. The courses may be conducted either during term time or during school holidays. Source: Singapore (1998).77 Policy responses and options 5. A mixed approach. A strong case can be made for prohibition of some types of supplementary tutoring, even if other types are permitted. For reasons that have been presented in this booklet, many observers are particularly critical of the practice of mainstream teachers gaining extra income from private tutoring of their own mainstream pupils, and this is the most obvious category of tutoring which can be prohibited. However, governments might still be willing to permit mainstream teachers to provide tutoring for other pupils. Or, if governments ban that category too, they could permit entrepreneurs who are not mainstream teachers to offer tutoring. This arrangement would allow personnel to provide both one-to-one tutoring and larger operations. 6. Prohibition. The most extreme approach to private supplementary tutoring is a total ban. This approach prohibits all supplementary tutoring of a commercial nature, though would normally permit voluntary or publicly-provided remedial tutoring for slow learners and others in need. Such policies would most commonly be based on recognition that private supplementary tutoring fosters social inequalities. Official bans on tutoring have been announced at various times in Cambodia, Mauritius, Myanmar, and the Republic of Korea, though in none of these cases were the bans very effective because the governments were unable to enforce them. Focus on the producers Elaborating on these observations, the measures adopted by planners may focus separately on the producers and the consumers of private tutoring. In societies where private tutoring is considered excessive, or likely to become excessive, planners can begin by identifying why the tutors provide the tutoring. If they do so because they are mainstream teachers who are forced by low official salaries to supplement their incomes, then the first step would be for the authorities to find ways to raise salaries. Of course this is easier said than done, especially because most such societies are poor and because the salaries of teachers in the public sector are tied to thoseThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 78 of civil servants. The Egyptian authorities have tried to tackle this matter by seeking other ways to raise teachers’ incomes, providing in-service training, remunerating them for grading examinations, and offering housing and other benefits. More broadly, the observation on low teachers’ salaries emphasizes the fact that officials responsible for education must voice concerns about wider economic and social health, and since teachers’ salaries in the public sector are mainly paid from taxation revenue, educational officials may need to focus on the size and nature of such revenue. Officials could usefully contribute to discussions on ways to make systems of taxation more efficient and effective. A contrasting situation is one in which teachers are fairly well paid, as in Japan, Mauritius, Singapore and the Republic of Korea, but in which private tutoring is a flourishing activity. In this situation, a strong case can be made for prohibiting mainstream teachers from tutoring their own pupils. Ideally, official regulations would be backed up by peer pressure, perhaps including action by teachers’ unions, in which mainstream teachers who accept payment for tutoring their own pupils are considered unprofessional. This has been achieved in Japan, Singapore and the Republic of Korea, and has to a large extent been achieved in Mauritius. The next question concerns mainstream teachers who use their spare time for private tutoring of pupils for whom they do not already have responsibility in their mainstream schools. While a case can be made for prohibiting this type of activity also, it seems less serious than the previous category. Critics of such a situation would have to review wider social norms. Foondun (1992, p.17) noted that in Mauritius, teachers’ motivation to provide extra tutoring arises from dominant cultures in the capitalist society: “The more money one makes, the more money one wants to make”. A similar observation might be made about Hong Kong, in which teachers are already adequately paid, but some individuals take extra tutoring because of a desire to finance high-consumption lifestyles. Again, the authorities could prohibit such activities if they desired, aiming to call on public opinion and standards of professionalism to help enforce prohibitions;79 Policy responses and options but such actions would only be effective if supported by wider social norms. The remaining question concerns tutoring by entrepreneurs outside the mainstream school system. Concerning these individuals and organizations, planners who devise regulations and systems of inspection might find assistance in professional bodies organized by the tutors themselves. The United Kingdom has an Association of Tutors, which, according to one source (Colbeck, 1992, p.50) “checks the qualifications and takes up the references of all prospective members, thus providing a benchmark of standards”. Membership gives public-liability insurance, a 24-hour hotline for legal advice, and regular newsletters and information. Associations of tutors also exist in Taiwan (Tseng, 1998). While such associations might not all operate with equal effectiveness, they could be bodies deserving official encouragement in some societies. Focus on the consumers Planners who consider supplementary tutoring to be excessive must also investigate the reasons why consumers demand tutoring, in order to find ways to reduce that demand. This strategy was recommended in the Republic of Korea when the government, which had earlier tried to prohibit tutoring, considered attacking the problem again. One commentary (Asiaweek, 1997, p.20) remarked that: For Korean authorities to address their own shortcomings in primary and secondary education by banning private tutors is a bit like trying to eliminate robbery by ensuring that the entire population is poor. Moreover, the commentary added: In an increasingly competitive Asia, it makes no sense at all to legislate in favour of the lowest common denominator. Insofar as demand for supplementary tutoring arises from social competition and a desire by parents to get their children ahead ofThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 80 their neighbours’ children, seven particular strategies can be adopted to reduce demand: 1. Reduce economic differentials. As noted, in societies such as Sri Lanka and Kenya, supplementary tutoring is in high demand because of the wide gap between modern and traditional sectors of the economy, and the fact that supplementary tutoring is a crucial vehicle for entering the gateway to the modern sector. Japan and the Republic of Korea have larger modern sectors, but still have wide gaps between the best-remunerated jobs and the others. If economic differentials can be reduced, then parents will have less reason to invest in supplementary tutoring and to pressure their children to comply with all the demands it entails. 2. Make education systems less elitist. In some countries, elitism has an obvious quantitative form. In most parts of Africa, huge numbers of children are pushed out at the end of primary school and are denied secondary places. In other societies the main quantitative watershed is between junior secondary and senior secondary; and in yet other societies the quantitative watershed is between senior secondary and tertiary. In addition to quantitative differentials are qualitative ones. Foondun’s (1992) booklet about Mauritius was subtitled “the mad race for a place in a ‘five-star’ secondary school”. He pointed out that some secondary schools had greatly superior teaching and learning environments than others, and that the type of school that an individual attended greatly affected that individual’s subsequent life chances. Some education systems also have harsh systems of ability streaming, even at the primary level. The implication for planners is that education systems need to be less elitist. Again, this is rather easier to say than to do. On the quantitative front, many countries are far from contemplating universal secondary education, and are even further from systems of mass higher education. However, even in these countries, attention can be paid to qualitative differences between schools. Planners should promote uniformity of standards, as far as possible not only within the public sector but also between the public and private sectors. They can also reduce streaming by ability and performance, especially at the primary level.81 Policy responses and options 3. Reform systems of assessment. Parents are less likely to be competitive if they do not actually know how their children rank in comparison with others. Hong Kong schools have been urged to reduce the extent to which children are ranked in class from the first term of primary Grade 1. Educators point out that such ranking creates a sense of success for the top pupil, but creates a sense of failure for all pupils from the second place down. The competition promoted by this system among both parents and pupils is a major factor fuelling supplementary tutoring. If rankings are needed at all, they can be in different subjects rather than as overall assessments; but better still, many educators would argue, would be individualized assessments which encourage pupils to do their personal best against their own standards, rather than against the standards of the mass. Planners can also consider reforming public examinations. As far as possible, examination questions should test skills and knowledge which cannot be achieved by cramming. Also, systems for awarding grades in examinations should be transparent and fair. Planners who wish to discourage mainstream teachers from seeking to secure private clients from their own pupils should be wary of the widespread advocacy of school- based assessment for pedagogical reasons; or if planners do encourage such assessment, they should ensure that decisions are not solely taken by individual teachers in isolation from school- level committees. While such school-based assessment may be justified on other grounds, the fact that it concentrates power in the hands of teachers creates temptation for those teachers to abuse the power. In Central and Eastern Europe, university entrance examinations are usually highly specialized not only by subject, but also by individual department. A pattern has grown up in which university teachers who set the examinations also offer private tutoring classes. This is another area with obvious dangers of abuse, demanding reform to make examinations standardized, neutral and transparent. 4. Encourage teachers to be more supportive of slow learners. While the previous three points refer mainly to parents who want their children to get ahead of their neighbours’ children, a fourthThe shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 82 point relates to parents of academically low achievers. In some education systems, teachers are unsympathetic to slow learners: they expect the children to sink or swim, and if the children sink and drop out, the teachers are not unduly concerned. Parents of slow learners thus find themselves forced to invest in supplementary tutoring simply to allow their children to keep up with the minimum level of competence demanded by the school. The remedy to such situations lies in arrangements which encourage teachers to be more flexible and supportive, and ideally to offer sensitive remedial support to slow learners on an unpaid basis during or after school hours. This would be achieved through professional bodies which offer training and guidance, and which help to change cultures in schools. Again, this cannot be contemplated on a wide scale in all education systems. It demands a higher degree of professionalism and competence than is generally found in many countries; and, in most settings, traditions of teaching can only be changed slowly. Nevertheless, it is a goal towards which planners should strive. 5. Ensure that the curriculum is not overloaded. Supplementary tutoring becomes necessary for almost all students when the curriculum is overloaded. This is among the factors which require teachers to move at a rapid pace, without allowing time for slow or even medium-speed learners. Curricula have a tendency to increase in volume as new materials are added without existing materials being trimmed. Planners need to assess the curriculum, to ensure that it can be covered appropriately within the normal school week, term and year without demanding supplementation. 6. Find ways to make mainstream classes more interesting. In some societies, private tutors market their services by offering more enjoyable and effective ways to learn than are typical in mainstream schools. Promises of a ‘fun, activity’ approach, perhaps supplemented by computer software and other aids, may be very appealing to families disenchanted by dry, traditional and teacher-centred approaches in mainstream classrooms. Demand for the alternative arrangements would be much reduced if the83 Policy responses and options mainstream classes were to become more innovative and learner- centred. In this respect, teachers in the mainstream can learn from the shadow. 7. Promote public awareness. Planners can also aim to reduce demand through publicity exercises which highlight the harmful effects of excessive supplementary tutoring. In Malaysia, Marimuthu et al. (1991, p.120) point out that private tutoring has become a preoccupation: Stories of success attributed to private tuition are plentiful and parents, particularly those in urban areas, are more than willing to listen to these stories. The Mauritian authorities have endeavoured to dampen demand for tutoring by embarking on a ‘sensitization campaign’ in collaboration with the Mauritius College of the Air (Mauritius, 1994, p.10). Public awareness can also be promoted through speeches, newspaper articles, television programmes and pamphlets. Planners may be able to stimulate parent-teacher associations, school boards of governors and other community- level bodies to ensure that disadvantaged children can receive tutoring, while dampening excesses where they occur.84 VII. Conclusions This booklet has shown that the shadow system of private supple- mentary tutoring is very widespread, and that in some parts of the world it is growing. Supplementary tutoring has major social and economic implications; and it can have a far-reaching impact on mainstream education systems. A central message of this booklet is that the shadow system deserves much greater attention by planners, policy-makers and researchers than it has so far received. The booklet has also shown that the topic is complex. Because the nature of supplementary tutoring varies, different policies are needed for different societies at different points in time. Some planners may prefer to leave the market to regulate itself, but others may wish to intervene in various ways. The range of possible interventions is wide. At the same time, the booklet has shown that private supplementary tutoring can have positive sides. It is a mechanism through which individuals can expand knowledge and through which societies can accumulate human capital. Because tutors must respond to market signals, they may be innovative and closely tied to the needs of their clients. Supplementary tutoring provides a structured framework for young people to spend out-of-school time; and it helps resolve some of the ambiguities where governments, on the one hand, aim for egalitarianism and uniformity but, on the other hand, permit social stratification and elitism (Box 10). The growth of private supplementary tutoring may also be seen in the context of a worldwide shift towards the marketization of education and reduced government control. In many settings, this shift is viewed with ambivalence. Governments may have positive reasons for withdrawing the dominant role that they have played in many countries; but in some societies the rise of private tutoring appears to be a social response to inadequacies in governmentConclusions 85 quantitative and qualitative inputs. One result is an exacerbation of social inequalities. On a conceptual plane, analysis of private supplementary tutoring requires modification of some paradigms used to classify private provision of education. Concerning private schools, James (1988, 1993) distinguished between institutions which cater for differentiated demand (e.g. with different curricula for religious or linguistic minorities) and ones which cater for excess demand (i.e. catering for students who were unable to gain places in public schools). James suggests that the former are most common in industrialized countries, while the latter are most common in less developed countries. Private schools catering for differentiated demand are by definition different in orientation from the public schools, while private schools catering for excess demand are likely to mimic the public schools. Supplementary tutoring, by contrast, may require a completely new framework for classification. Some tutoring may cater for Box 10. Living with ambiguity. The mainstream and shadow systems in Japan Harnisch (1994, p.330) described Japanese juku as “a necessary organization”. He added that they “close a sensitive gap in the Japanese education system between the teaching at public schools and the demands of the entrance exams”. In Japan’s public school system, the dominant values are egalitarianism and uniformity. Mainstream teachers are bound by these two mandatory principles; but juku undermine them. Ironically, Japanese society accepts this fact because the juku act as a safety valve and ameliorate some effects of the mainstream system. Prosperous parents learn to live with equality in public elementary education because they can invest independently in juku and other aids to success in examinations. Parents of high achievers send their children to juku to study advanced materials, and parents of low achievers send their children to juku to catch up with remedial work. Juku track children by ability and focus solely on test preparation in a way that public schools cannot and may not want to do. The operation of the juku permits the formal school to continue to function according to the principles of egalitarianism and uniformity (Kitamura, 1986, p.161).The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners 86 differentiated demand. This would include lessons in music, art, sports, ballet, etc., which are important for rounded personal development and are a form of cultural capital for the recipients. Like differentiated demand for private schools, the phenomenon primarily exists in industrialized countries. As noted at the beginning of this booklet, such lessons have been excluded from discussion here because the focus has been on academic subjects taught in mainstream schools. For academic subjects, demand is not generally differentiated: parents want extra teaching in the subjects which are already taught in their children’s schools, and this is the case for both high- and low-income groups in both industrialized and less developed countries. A further conceptual difference is that demand for all supplementary tutoring may be described as excess, in the sense that parents can and do pay for extra lessons on top of those provided by the mainstream schools. This raises another question with far-reaching policy implications, namely: if so many parents, even of children in public schools, can and do pay for supplementary tutoring, is it sensible for governments to try so hard to make public mainstream schooling free of charge? Since so many families are able and willing to pay for supplementary tutoring, in some situations a case might be made for charging those families fees in the mainstream too. The revenue from those fees could then be used to improve the circumstances for the poor, e.g. by financing scholarship schemes. Revenue from fees could also be used to improve quality in mainstream schools. This would benefit all children, both rich and poor, and perhaps reduce the need for tutoring in the first place, especially where it exists because: • the teachers are so underpaid that they are forced to provide tutoring to gain extra income; • the teaching profession is so underpaid that it attracts only inferior personnel who are therefore unable to teach properly; and/or • the schools have so little equipment that the processes of teaching and learning are inefficient and supplementary tutoring is needed to bridge the gaps. This booklet has of course pointed out that these are not the only reasons why supplementary tutoring exists. In many settings, tutoringConclusions 87 is a response to the competitive nature of society in which parents are anxious for their children to get ahead of their neighbours’ children. But again the point may be made that if such people are able and willing to pay so much money for private supplementary tutoring, then it is questionable whether they should be given mainstream schooling in the public system free of charge. These notions, it must be recognized, are quite radical and would require careful debate in individual national and local settings. Policy- makers and planners may prefer to leave undisturbed the existing arrangements for fee-free education in public schools because the arena is extremely complex. Meanwhile, however, researchers should investigate in more detail the nature and impact of different modes of private supplementary tutoring on social inequalities and economic development in different societies. More research is also needed on the effectiveness of supplementary tutoring on raising academic achievement in different circumstances, and on the impact of the shadow system on the mainstream. While awaiting this further research, however, the strongest message of this booklet remains. This message is that from a policy- making and planning perspective, supplementary tutoring deserves much more attention than it has been given in most societies. If the booklet has stimulated some thought on this topic, it will have achieved its main objective.88 References Abiko, T. 1998. “A critical analysis of the school curriculum in contemporary Japan”. In: Education 3 to 13, 26(2), 17-25. Asian Development Bank. 1996. Cambodia: education sector strategy study. Manila: Asian Development Bank. Asiaweek. 1997. “Banning tutors”, 23(17), 20. Bahaa el Din, H.K. 1997. Education and the future. Kalyoub, Egypt: Al-Ahram Commercial Presses. Benjamin, G.R. 1997. “Choices of education in Japan”. In: E. Cohn, (Ed.), Market approaches to education: vouchers and school choice (pp. 511-526). Oxford: Pergamon Press. Bennell, P. 1998. “Rates of return to education in Asia: a review of the evidence”. 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Demand for education and developmental state: private tutoring in South Korea. Seoul: KDI School of Public Policy and Management. Kim, T. 2005. Shadow education: school quality and demand for private tutoring in Korea. Kyoto: Interfaces for Advanced Economic Analysis, Kyoto University. Kwok, P. 2004. “Examination-oriented knowledge and value transformation in East Asian cram schools”. In: Asia Pacific Education Review, 5(1), 64-75. Lee, C.J. 2005. “Korean education fever and private tutoring”. In: KEDI Journal of Educational Policy, 2(1), 99-107. Lee, J. 2007. “Two worlds of private tutoring: the prevalence and causes of after-school mathematics tutoring in Korea and the United States”. In: Teachers College Record, 109(5), 1207- 1234. Lee, J.T.; Kim, Y.B.; Yoon, C.H. 2004. “The effects of pre-class tutoring on student achievement: challenges and implications for public education in Korea”. In: KEDI Journal of Educational Policy, 1(1), 25-42. Mischo, C.; Haag, L. 2002. “Expansion and effectiveness of private tutoring”. In: European Journal of Psychology of Education, XVII(3), 263-273. Popa, S.; Acedo, C. 2006. “Redefining professionalism: Romanian secondary education teachers and the private tutoring system”. In: International Journal of Educational Development, 26(1), 98-110.Supplementary bibliography 101 Sambo, W.A.L. 2001. “The role of private tuition in secondary education in Tanzania”. In: Papers in Education and Development [Dar es Salaam], (21), 96-110. Seth, M.J. 2002. Education fever: society, politics, and the pursuit of schooling in South Korea. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. Silova, I.; Budiene, V.; Bray, M. (Eds.). 2006. Education in a hidden marketplace: monitoring of private tutoring. New York: Open Society Institute. Sujatha, K. 2006. Private tuition among secondary students in four states. New Delhi: National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration. Tansel, A.; Bircan, F. 2006. “Demand for education in Turkey: a Tobit analysis of private tutoring expenditures”. In: Economics of Education Review, 25(4), 303-313. Wolf, R.M. 2002. “Extra-school instruction in mathematics and science”. In: D.F Robitaille, A.E. Beaton (Eds.), Secondary analysis of the TIMSS data (pp. 331-341). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Wu, L.J. 2004. “Disaffection and cramming: the story from Taiwan”. In: International Journal on School Disaffection, 2(1), 15- 20. Yoo, Y.H. 2002. Economics of private tutoring: in search for its causes and effective cures. Seoul: Korea Development Institute. Zeng, K. 1999. Dragon gate: competitive examinations and their consequences. London: Cassell.IIEP publications and documents More than 1,200 titles on all aspects of educational planning have been published by the International Institute for Educational Planning. A comprehensive catalogue is available in the following subject categories: Educational planning and global issues General studies – global/developmental issues Administration and management of education Decentralization – participation – distance education – school mapping – teachers Economics of education Costs and financing – employment – international co-operation Quality of education Evaluation – innovation – supervision Different levels of formal education Primary to higher education Alternative strategies for education Lifelong education – non-formal education – disadvantaged groups – gender education Copies of the Catalogue may be obtained on request from: IIEP, Communication and Publications Unit [email protected] Titles of new publications and abstracts may be consulted at the following web site: www.unesco.org/iiepThe International Institute for Educational Planning The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) is an international centre for advanced training and research in the field of educational planning. It was established by UNESCO in 1963 and is financed by UNESCO and by voluntary contributions from Member States. In recent years the following Member States have provided voluntary contributions to the Institute: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, India, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The Institute’s aim is to contribute to the development of education throughout the world, by expanding both knowledge and the supply of competent professionals in the field of educational planning. In this endeavour the Institute co-operates with interested training and research organizations in Member States. The Governing Board of IIEP, which approves the Institute’s programme and budget, consists of a maximum of eight elected members and four members designated by the United Nations Organization and certain of its specialized agencies and institutes. Chairperson: Raymond E. Wanner (USA) Senior Adviser on UNESCO issues to the Senior Vice-President for Programs, United Nations Foundation, Washington DC, USA. Designated Members: Manuel M. Dayrit Director, Department of Human Resources for Health, Evidence and Information for Policy Cluster, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Ruth Kagia Education Director, World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Diéry Seck Director, African Institute for Economic Development and Planning, Senegal. Jomo Kwame Sundaram Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Economic Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, New York, USA. Elected Members: Aziza Bennani (Morocco) Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Morocco to UNESCO. José Joaquín Brunner (Chile) Director, Education Programme, Fundación Chile, Santiago, Chile. Birger Fredriksen (Norway) Former Senior Education Advisor for the Africa Region, World Bank. Takyiwaa Manuh (Ghana) Director, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. Philippe Mehaut (France) LEST-CNRS, Aix-en-Provence, France. Teiichi Sato (Japan) Advisor to the Minister of Education, Culture, Science, Sports and Technology, Japan. Tuomas Takala (Finland) Professor, University of Tampere, Finland. Inquiries about the Institute should be addressed to: The Office of the Director, International Institute for Educational Planning, 7-9 rue Eugène Delacroix, 75116 Paris, France

Shadow Education in Thailand: A Case Study of Thai English Tutors’ Perspectives towards the Roles of Private Supplementary Tutoring in Improving English Language Skills

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Shadow education, particularly tutorial schools, is a familiar yet under-studied educational phenomenon in Thai society. This exploratory qualitative case study aimed at gaining a better understanding of English tutorial schools through the lens of tutors. Specifically, two tutors in Bangkok, Thailand were selected via purposive sampling. Two rounds of interviews were conducted: 1) focus group and 2) individual. Key themes emerged from the two rounds of interviews, namely challenges in providing tutorial courses, tutorial schools and Thai society, the importance of motivation, tutorials and English teaching, success and failure in tutoring and English language teaching policy. Concluding remarks suggested that shadow education, in this case private supplementary tutoring, has a potential to improve English language skills of Thais through its motivating force and that dichotomous thinking about key components of English language teaching e.g., to teach or not to teach grammar; English native speaking vs. non-native speaking teachers should be avoided.

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Shadow education uptake among final year students in Irish secondary schools: Wellbeing in a high stakes context

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This paper assesses the role of shadow education (SE), i.e. organised learning activities outside formal schooling, in the lives of secondary school students of different social backgrounds and in different school settings, in a high-stakes context. It draws on multilevel analysis of longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland data, alongside narratives from in-depth case study research in 10 schools. Framed within a social reproduction approach, we show how access to SE as an educational resource is socially stratified, accessible to those with greater levels of family resources, and those attending schools with higher socio-economic student intakes. SE is viewed as an investment, particularly among students with average and above average levels of prior attainment, while high attaining students are less likely to use SE. Perhaps reflecting the normalisation of SE in the Irish context, students do not directly link engagement in such tuition to their socio-emotional wellbeing.

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Shadow education as an emerging focus in worldwide curriculum studies

Shadow education has been studied in areas such as comparative education, educational policy, sociology of education, education and economics, and lifelong education, but mainstream Anglophone curriculum studies have largely ignored this phenomenon. We argue that shadow education should be considered as an emerging (and significant) focus of curriculum studies worldwide and advance five approaches to studying shadow education as an object of transnational curriculum inquiry, including shadow education as historical/political text, auto/biographical text, critical text, ethnic text, and decolonising text. We argue that, because shadow education seems likely to expand, curriculum scholars should seek new understandings that might complicate and complexify both shadow education and mainstream curriculum discourses.

Young Chun Kim, Noel Gough, and Jung-Hoon Jung

https://doi.org/10.18296/cm.0027

Introduction

The expansion of private supplementary tutoring beyond the hours of mainstream formal schooling has become an increasingly visible phenomenon in many nations. In Asian countries, it is known as “shadow education”, but terms such as “cram schools” (Pinar, 2011), “supplementary education” (Gordon, Bridglall, & Meroe, 2003), and “private tuition” (Foondun, 2002) are commonplace in Anglophone nations. Mori and Baker (2010, p. 39) report numerous studies that show it is “occurring at the worldwide level”. The traditional form of shadow education—one-to-one tutoring—has expanded, and to some extent been supplanted, by large-scale industries including internet-based tutoring and before- and after-school programmes. Mori and Baker (2010, p. 37) observe that shadow education in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore has been pervasive and that it “was also thought to be the ‘secret ingredient’ in some Asian nations’ relative high performance” on large-scale cross-national comparisons of achievement tests.

Shadow education in the Asian diaspora of other nations is also evident. For example, Ho and Wang (2016) trace the histories of Chinese com­munity schools in Auckland, New Zealand, from the 1960s, describ­ing them as a “new wave” of education. Examples include Auckland Chinese Community Centre Inc., Browns Bay Chinese Community School, New­market Afterschool Chinese programme, and Wakaaranga Afterschool Chinese programme, to name a few. These community schools provide a variety of before- and after-school programmes including Chinese lan­guage, China-focused extracurricular activities, and academic pro­grammes in English and mathematics. Although some scholars (e.g., Cummings, 1997) characterise shadow education in East Asian countries as an “exotic” cultural practice, ethnic influences are no longer the only driving forces because, as Mark Bray’s (1999, 2011) empirical studies demonstrate, shadow education is pervasive worldwide.

Shadow education has received considerable attention in research areas such as comparative education (Mori & Baker, 2010; Ventura & Jang, 2010), educational policy (Bray & Kwo, 2014; Ireson, 2004; Park, Buchmann, Choi, & Merry, 2016), sociology of education (Byun, 2010; Yamamoto & Brinton, 2010), economics (Entrich, 2014; Zhang, 2013), and lifelong education (Ozaki, 2015). Most of this research focuses on what Bray and Kwo (2014, p. 2) call the “backwash” of shadow education. For example, because shadow education is a form of privatisation in which educational choices depend upon familial financial circumstances, it is often accused of reproducing educational inequalities (Stevenson & Baker, 1992) and even of being a form of corruption of the education system. For example, Foondun (2002) observes that teachers in Mauritius display conflicts of interest by favouring their private tutoring services. Education authorities in some nations have responded to such abuses by trying to “control” (de Castro & de Guzman, 2014) or “eliminate” private tutoring services (see especially Kim’s [2016] history of shadow education in South Korea). We argue that a control-oriented approach to shadow education is problematic, not only because no nation has achieved their desire to control it (even the dictatorship of Jeonghee Park in South Korea failed to do so), but also because the approach fails to understand why many students and their parents “buy into” and support shadow-education enterprises.

Despite extensive research in some education subdisciplines, shadow education has received little attention from curriculum scholars, who have not addressed such issues as: how students study in the shadow education environment; what curricular characteristics attract students and parents to shadow education; what forms it takes in different contexts; and how it affects children’s development. With these questions in mind, we argue that shadow education is an emerging, albeit perhaps troubling, focus for curriculum inquiry. Shadow education complexifies, rather than simplifies, understandings of curriculum. Curriculum, broadly conceived as the totality of a student’s experiences in the course of the student’s education, is not confined to what happens in classrooms and schools but must also take account of what happens outside schools. If students’ learning cannot be fully understood without investigating shadow education, then we need to address three sets of research questions:

(1) Why should shadow education be an object of curriculum inquiry?

(2) In what forms of shadow education do students participate to enhance their academic achievement and succeed in future college/university entrance examinations? How does each form function? What does each form contribute to understanding curriculum writ large?

(3) What kinds of curricular approaches and questions are generated by including shadow education as a focus of curriculum inquiry?

What aspects of shadow education make it as an appropriate object of curriculum inquiry?

Shadow education is a significant object of curriculum inquiry for a number of reasons. Firstly, students in many countries participate in shadow education, which means that schools (whether public or private) are not the only places in which students learn. Shadow education is prominent in some East Asian countries. For example, in South Korea, 67.8% of public school students take shadow education classes (Statistics Korea, 2016). A 2010 study found that 73.5% of Hong Kong secondary students received private tutoring (Caritas Community and Higher Education Service, 2010). Similarly, in Japan, private tutoring attendance by elementary and lower secondary students in 2007 was respectively 25.9% and 53.5% (Dawson, 2010). Shadow education is also prevalent in South Asia, Southern Europe, and some parts of North Africa and is growing in other areas including Sub-Saharan Africa, North America, South America, and Western Europe (for statistical data, see Bray & Kwo, 2014). New Zealand is one of the countries in which the rate of shadow education is presently among the lowest, with a participation rate of approximately 24% among 15-year-old students (Entrich, 2017). Shadow education is also growing in Canada, and, based on their study in Ontario, Aurini and Davies (2004, p. 419) argue that “this massively growing industry is expanding its reach … These businesses are becoming increasingly school-like … to provide a fuller alternative to regular public schooling”. In some instances, the status of shadow education might have overtaken that of public schools. For example, Yang and Kim (2010, p. 117) note the “phenomenon of inverted roles” between public education and shadow education insofar as students do assignments given by private tutoring institutes in their school classrooms. Such “inverted roles” have also been observed in India, where Paramita’s (2015, p. 819) ethnographic study reveals that students “follow the private tutors not the teachers”. Aurini and Davies (2004) contend that shadow education has become “school-like” for many students. Such studies lead us to suggest that shadow education is not only a near-universal phenomenon but also that in many circumstances it is at least as important as schools for students’ education.

Secondly, in many cases shadow education contributes to students’ aca­demic achievement. Its effectiveness for enhancing students’ achieve­ment is seen in many countries including South Korea (Lee, 2007; Park, 2008), Japan (Mori & Baker, 2010), Bangladesh (Nath, 2008), Sri Lanka (Pallegedara, 2011), and Canada (Davies & Guppy, 2010). A Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report con­firms the contributions of shadow education to students’ achievement in countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Canada, acknowledging that “private education plays an important role in mobilising resources from a wider range of funding sources and is sometimes also considered a way of making education more cost-effective” (OECD, 2012, p. 70). Carr and Wang (2015, p. 1) found that after-school programmes have a positive impact on “improving students’ academic outcomes, promoting a more equitable school system without sacrificing the mental wellbeing of students”. However, shadow education is not a panacea for every student. Ireson (2004, p. 109) presents a mixed picture of its effectiveness and argues that “quality indicators should be added to analyses”.

Thirdly, curriculum materials include not only those that public education provides, but also those sourced by or through private providers. Many students, especially in some East Asian countries, have greater access to shadow education resources than to those provided by public schools (Kim, 2016). They do so because the curriculum materials provided by public education are usually designed for one grade or developmental level and are thus seen as less helpful for advanced or accelerated learning and for remedial learning. Thus, the workbooks, reference books, and other materials developed by shadow education providers are welcomed by many students (Aurini & Davies, 2004; Kim, 2016). In some places, such as the United States, the private sector even provides curricular materials to the public sector (Ball, Thrupp, & Forsey, 2010). Major franchised companies such as Kumon and Sylvan offer much more systematic and targeted programmes than does public education. For example, Kim & Kim (2012, p. 25) analysed shadow education materials and found that “the materials are not designed merely for rote learning based on repetition; they are systematically and meticulously designed to guide students’ learning”. Sylvan, for instance, has developed numerous materials in reading, writing, and studying with the aim of students acquiring the basic skills, rather than immediately increasing students’ grades. Yang and Kim (2010) observe that, in South Korea, even in public schools, students study with materials from private tutoring institutes.

Finally, understanding shadow education is crucial for grasping the whole picture of education, and, more importantly, students’ develop­ment. In other words, shadow education is another space which can be an indispensable part of students’ lives. From the perspective of Bronfenbrenner’s (1976, p. 5) ecology of education, we argue that curriculum inquiry cannot be restricted to schools but must also be carried out in “real-life educational settings”. Shadow education is a microsystem of education that interacts with other constituents of the ecology of education, including family, schools, communities, and larger social structures. Bray and Kobakhidze (2015, p. 477) argue that “the rise of tutoring in Hong Kong has significantly changed the ecosystem”. In the same vein, the prevalence of shadow education in South Korea has forced the Ministry of Education to install after-school programmes provided by private tutoring institutes (Choi & Cho, 2016). Research specifically into how shadow education influences child development presents a largely negative picture: for example, extended studying time and excessive involvement in private tutoring may be detrimental to students’ development (Mori & Baker, 2010) because they sacrifice sleep for study (Gillen-O’Neel, Huynh, & Fuligni, 2013) and Paton (2014) quotes the president of the National Association of Head Teachers (UK) as claiming it “is like child abuse”. Yet, there are counter-narratives. Carr and Wang (2015) found positive roles for after-school programmes. Kim and Kim (2012) also narrate students’ desire to learn more and their willingness to sacrifice sleep for their future. We argue that a more nuanced approach is needed to understand the relationship between children’s academic development and their intellectual, biographical, and social development.

Five forms of shadow education

In this section, we discuss five forms of shadow education based on, but not limited to, Bray’s (2011) categorisation of one-to-one, small group, and classroom-based types. Bray’s categorisation is helpful for recognising that there are multiple types of shadow education around the world. However, we learnt from our field research and the existing literature that the categorisations of shadow education are limiting in that they are based chiefly on student–teacher ratios. To provide a more flexible frame for curriculum inquiry, we identify five forms of shadow education.

Private tutoring institute

A private tutoring institute is the most school-like form of shadow education insofar as it has its own physical space, classrooms, and buildings, and its own curriculum, instruction, and assessment/evaluation strategies. A typical schedule at such an institute, with some variations between school levels, is that students attend classes three times a week during the school term and every day during summer and winter vacations (Kim, 2016). Classes at a private tutoring institute tend to be smaller than school classes, usually seven to 15 students in a class. Class divisions and student mobility based on a student’s level in each learning area are salient characteristics. Recently, many of the institutes have become franchised. Such institutes are called hakwons in South Korea (Kim, 2016), juku in Japan (Ozaki, 2015), buxiban in Taiwan (Bray & Lykins, 2012); and centres, tutoring centres, academies, or institutes in Anglophone countries.

Home-visit private tutoring

Home-visit private tutoring is the most individualised form of shadow education, as it has a ratio of one student to one instructor. The instruction is tailored to the individual student’s strengths and weaknesses, and the focus is on accommodating the student’s academic ability and pace. Decisions on what and how to teach are based mainly on the family’s requests. Home-visit private tutoring takes place at the student’s home, which means that the student saves time that may otherwise be wasted in travelling. This form of shadow education is used mostly by middle class and relatively wealthy families because the tuition is higher than any other forms (Kim, 2016). It is called gwawoe in South Korea, katei homon in Japan, and one-to-one tutoring or private home tuition in Anglophone countries. Recognising the need for and effectiveness of this form of shadow education, private companies such as First Tutors and School Tutoring Academy have emerged. 1

Internet-based private tutoring

Internet-based private tutoring combines the advantages of private tutoring and highly developed internet technologies. This form of shadow education helps students and private tutoring institutes overcome geographical and temporal barriers and meet individual students’ academic levels and learning paces. Although it mainly provides online lectures in subject areas, it sometimes offers downloadable lessons. Nowadays, the internet also makes possible instant online communication between students and instructors. Ventura and Jang (2010, p. 59) argue that this is “progressively growing private tutoring … [under] globalisation and offshoring” of the enterprise. Internet-based tutoring companies hire top class instructors, who sometimes gain icon status as “God Tutors” (a Cantonese expression) in Hong Kong (Cheng, 2007). With its ubiquity and relatively low tuition costs, this type of shadow education is growing exponentially (Cheng, 2007).

Subscribed learning programme

A subscribed learning programme is a highly standardised and systematic tutoring programme provided by large, franchised enterprises such as Kumon, Red Pen, Purunet, and Nunnoppi. 1 The companies develop their own materials using their own curricular and instructional strategies. The materials are delivered via mail, and students follow them step-by-step at their own pace at home. The companies send tutors to students’ homes once a week. Different from home-visit private tutoring, the role of tutors in this form of shadow education is to evaluate each student’s progress and degree of understanding, guide the next assignments, and help them to deal with other issues related to subject matter and learning strategies. The learning materials are called haksupji (literally, “learning-paper”) in South Korea (Kim, 2012); this form, kumon , originated in Japan in the 1950s and has enjoyed “a spectacular ascent” in many countries (Aurini & Davies, 2004) and operates today in 49 countries, including New Zealand.

After-school programmes

An after-school programme is “a set of student-centred learning and de­velop­ment activities which are school-based operations but are not a part of the regular curriculum” (Ministry of Education and Science and Technology [South Korea], 2012). Historically, as Halpern (1999) notes, such programmes provided supervised learning in educational environments to students whose parents were not available to take care of them after-school hours, and with the hope of reducing demand for other forms of shadow education. But the growing emphasis on accountability in the United States, together with increasing demand from students and parents in South Korea, led to these programmes expanding their focus on improving student academic performance (Bae & Jeon, 2013). After-school programmes exist in countries such as the United States (Afterschool Alliance, 2008), Japan (Yamamoto, & Brinton, 2010), South Korea (Kim, 2016), and New Zealand (Youthtown, 2015). After-school programmes are among the more diverse forms of shadow education in terms of their purposes and activities because after-school programmes can actualise various sociocultural aspects of learning. For example, in South Korea, after-school programmes are directed towards enhancing the student’s academic achievement, whereas in New Zealand there are more sports-based activities in which students can build social networks.

Perspectives for curriculum inquiry in shadow education

Conceiving shadow education as a reality of students’ learning questions the existing image of curriculum. Shadow education adds to what Deleuze (1994, p. 269) might call “the distribution of difference” in educational provision and thereby encourage explorations that are “nomadic rather than sedentary or fixed” (see, also, Gough & Sellers, 2016). In this respect, we suggest that stereotyping shadow education as detrimental, consumerist, or deviant could hinder the generation of new understandings. Considering shadow education as a component of a nomadic curriculum discourse might provide opportunities for understanding curriculum, students’ learning and lives, and the politics and history of curriculum differently. Informed by Pinar, Reynolds, Slattery, and Taubman’s (1995) approach to understanding curriculum as text, we suggest new research questions and perspectives that can be deployed to generate further understandings.

Shadow education as historical/political curriculum text

The mainstream discourses of public education are reluctant to accept shadow education as a curriculum, and it has suffered denial, rejection, and marginalisation under the political project that constructs it as a mere “shadow”. To understand political/historical subtexts around shadow education, we can raise questions such as:

• How has shadow education emerged and developed from supple­mentary to competing with (or overtaking) public education in different countries?

• In what ways has shadow education been conceptualised and repre­sented by educators, administrators, curriculum researchers, and social media?

Understanding shadow education requires that we understand its historicity. The significance of historical study in the etymology and reconstruction of the term “curriculum” is emphasised and exemplified by, for example, Pinar et al. (1995). Yet, there is little research on how it has emerged and subsequently developed. For example, Fung (2012, p. 185) laments that “there is no documented history of cram schools in Hong Kong”. For shadow education to develop as a sustained object of academic study, its history must be investigated to help us to understand how we have arrived at the current situation and reveal how our current understandings might change. The only extant research that has thoroughly documented a history of shadow education is Young Chun Kim’s (2016) Shadow Education and the Curriculum and Culture of Schooling in South Korea , which traces its 100-year history in that country.

A key question for curriculum scholars is to explore how shadow education has become marginalised “based only upon the assertion and reassertion of identity” (Said, 1993, p. 457) and why it is perceived so negatively (Choi & Cho, 2016). The term “shadow education” represents it as subordinate or inferior to public education and positions it as antagonistic to public education that needs to be tightly controlled (de Castro & de Guzman, 2014) or eliminated (Kim, 2016), due to its alleged role in reproducing existing inequalities (Bray & Kwo, 2014). Curriculum scholars might therefore need to inquire as to why shadow education has been characterised so negatively by the mainstream, such as in Foondun’s (2002, p. 509) assertion of the “evils of private tuition”, and Bray & Kobakhidze’s (2015, p. 476) characterisation of it as an “invasive species [of education]”. These accusations are suspicious because counter-narratives show ways in which shadow education is helpful and has a positive impact on students’ learning and their society (Entrich, 2017): for example, Sun and Braeye (2012) found that it plays a crucial role in keeping alive certain ethnicities and cultures in some diasporas.

The politically constructed representation of shadow education can be under­stood as a denigration, and many supporters of it reject such an identity. It might seem natural for shadow education to be viewed negatively given that public schooling has for so long been a priority. Their unequal positions suggest that using Foucault’s (1997) tools of genealogies and archaeologies of knowledge and power in historical investigation of shadow education might reveal the power/knowledge manoeuvres around it and uncover images of it that might challenge the functionality of the power. Understanding shadow education as political/historical text might thereby change the dynamics of power surrounding it.

Shadow education as auto/biographical curriculum text

Approaching shadow education as auto/biographical text is to understand participating students’ learning and development through the perspectives of “lived experience”, and Pinar’s (1994) method of currere (the Latin root of “curriculum” in its infinitive form, coined by Pinar [1975] to name autobiographical inquiry of one’s experience). As we have shown, shadow education is an important educational space. Experiences of shadow education can greatly influence students’ education and intellectual, emotional, and social development, as Kassotakis and Verdis (2013) found in Greece. The functionality of shadow education goes beyond improving test-taking skills through rote learning. Via shadow education, students learn knowledge, values, and attitudes towards learning; self-management skills; and social skills as Hartmann (2013) discusses with respect to Egypt. Previous research on shadow education is limiting because the predominantly quantitative research has not identified the complexities of students’ subjective experiences. Thus, we suggest that students’ lives and their educational experiences in shadow education should be studied from the perspective of curriculum as auto/biographical text and propose these research questions:

• How does shadow education contribute to a student’s overall edu­cation­al progress and achievement?

• How does shadow education influence individual students’ social and emotional development?

• What are the negative consequences of shadow education on students’ learning and development, especially in circumstances in which it emphasises increasing school grades and obtaining admission to a tertiary institution?

Research in this area is emerging, and some studies report negative influences on students. For example, Bray (2013, p. 27) argues that shadow education in Hong Kong puts excessive pressure on young people, which diminishes “psychological well-being” and “socio-emotional development”. Similar findings have been reported for South Korean students (Oh My News, 2012). On the other hand, the positive influences on students mentioned in the previous section have also been reported. Thus, research reveals a mixed picture. It is important to note that the effects of shadow education are not limited to academic performance. We know very little about how it influences students’ identity formation or subjective reconstruction of their experience of it, and how it contributes to or constrains students’ intellectual and biographical development.

Understanding how students construct and reconstruct their lived experi­ence in shadow education requires us to seek much richer data (thick descriptions) than what is testable, quantifiable, or easily observable. We must try to understand how students experience shadow education in their “inner lives” by, for example, deploying phenomenological approaches that seek to understand the essence and particularities of students’ experiences through their eyes. Currere (Pinar, 2015, p. 39) can also provide ways to approach our inner worlds, by allowing us to “sketch the relations among school [and shadow education] knowledge, life history, and intellectual development in ways that might function self-transformatively”. Through efforts to understand shadow education as auto/biographical text, we may better be able to understand its significance and meanings in a learner’s biography and intellectual life.

Shadow education as critical curriculum text

Much empirical research argues that shadow education contributes to reproducing social inequalities by providing better educational oppor­tunities for students from economically privileged families (Dawson, 2010). Thus, it functions as a medium through which the social and cultural capital of families is effectively delivered to students (Park, Lim, & Choi, 2015; Sun & Braeye, 2012). This proposition is supported by empirical research that shows higher demand for shadow education in higher socioeconomic status (SES) families, and the positive relation between the intensity of shadow education students and their academic achievements, which often results in the accusation that it is a major cause of educational inequality (Lee, Lee, & Jang, 2010). Yet, there are differences among countries in terms of the participation rates among low, middle, and high SES families. For example, South Korea has relatively large differences, whereas there are smaller differences in New Zealand. In nations such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the United States students from low SES families had higher participation rates in shadow education (Kim, 2013).

H. Kim (2015) argues that there is a positive relation between familial invest­ment in shadow education and entrance rates for presti­gious schools in South Korea which is “related to … more money spent for pri­vate tutoring” (Kim & Park, 2010, p. 88) by higher SES families. This understanding convinces us to problematise shadow education as critical text by stressing the necessity of conducting research on its roles in capitalist countries.

Despite the empirical findings on the roles of shadow education, research to date does not lead us beyond the fact that students’ achievement and the distribution of educational resources are heavily influenced by family background. We are troubled that we are repeatedly asking the same question, because there is little research that looks closely into the functionality of shadow education to address questions such as:

• How do certain students obtain access to more effective shadow education institutes or tutors?

• How do middle and high SES families use their social capital to provide their students with better shadow education resources?

• How are students’ learning and progress planned, tracked, or managed so that they can enter prestigious middle schools, high schools, or universities?

• How do shadow education institutes or tutors strengthen individual students’ desire and passion for studying, perhaps for students of wealthy families?

Efforts to understand shadow education as critical curriculum text might tell us more about how it produces such an impact on students’ learning and strengthens/reduces existing educational gaps. These critical questions are important because shadow education enterprises, being businesses intended to be profitable, will continue to provide services based on the tuition fees that families can afford. Therefore, there always will be issues of educational inequality in shadow education as long as it exists. More rigorous study from critical perspectives might help us to deal with such issues.

Shadow education as ethnic/cultural curriculum text

Reading shadow education as ethnic/cultural curriculum text seeks to identify and understand its educational significances and meanings in multicultural and multiethnic contexts. Many have wondered why students with particular ethnic and cultural backgrounds, especially children of East Asian immigrants, outperform other ethnic groups in the United States (Schneider & Lee, 1990; Zhou, 2008; Zhou & Kim, 2006), Canada (Sun & Braeye, 2012), and New Zealand (Ho & Wang, 2016). Zhou’s (2008) ethnographic study found that ethnic communities in Los Angeles constitute a crucial educational environment especially for East Asian students who outperform other ethnic groups in the area. Zhou (2008, p. 229) attributes the success of the students to the “ethnic system”, the ethnic social environment, which Lee and Zhou (2015) call “ethnic capital”. Qualitative research in Canada by Sun and Braeye (2012) produced similar results to Zhou’s analysis, as did Ho and Wang (2016) in New Zealand. Thus, understanding why and how students of Asian origin (such as Chinese and Korean) outperform other students in host nations requires us to learn how shadow education works in such communities. We propose the following questions for considering shadow education as ethnic text:

• What is the role of shadow education in the success of students in East Asian communities?

• What ethnic elements—cultural values, knowledge, and norms—make shadow education more prevalent in such communities than in other communities in Western nations?

• How has shadow education used by particular ethnic groups been understood and represented in mainstream society?

• How can we conceptualise shadow education in such communities as an influential agency for creating another image of model minority students?

In trying to explain why shadow education has been so strong in East Asian communities, some researchers have attributed students’ success to Confucian values of respect for learning, diligence, and effort (see Sun & Braeye, 2012). Zhou (2008, p. 242) argues that the educational environment supported by these ethnic groups works to increase students’ academic success. However, this explanation is questioned by Fung (2012, p. 190), who found differences in the characteristics and functionalities of shadow education between Chinese communities in different locations and argues that attributing students’ success to Confucian culture and/or specific cultural codes is a limiting explanation, which risks falling into “cultural normalization”.

Such ethnic/cultural influences may be manifested as a tension in shadow education. For example, Zhou and Kim (2006) found “relative functionalism” in Asian American educational achievement and social mobility. That is, Asian Americans were constrained by the structures of opportunity for social mobility in noneducational areas such as politics, sports, and entertainment. The “blocked mobility” allows them to invest more in education and “disproportionately succeed in it” (Zhou & Kim, 2006, p. 5). Ho and Wang’s (2016, p. 204) study of Chinese community schools in New Zealand found another tension in that these schools function as a space for “legitimate peripheral participation” in order to become competent students in the mainstream schools, and full members of the New Zealand community in the future. Their research also revealed “a lack of commitment to further develop Chinese language competency due to the demanding senior school requirements and limited option choice in New Zealand” as many students stop Chinese language learning after Year 8. This might seem surprising, given that learning languages is one of the key curriculum areas in the New Zealand education system. Thus, they suggest that New Zealand education policies should include “language programmes … providing afterschool courses to help migrants maintain their identity and develop non-native speakers’ interest in learning languages” (Ho & Wang, 2016, p. 205).

Shadow education as decolonising curriculum text

Shadow education as decolonising text questions existing under­stand­ings and representations of it as non-Western curriculum texts (Jung, 2018), which have, as Ozaki (2015) suggests, been constructed from Western perspectives. This project does not only add the perspectives of subaltern people to global discourses, but also seeks to transform the internal formation of shadow education in the psyche of the non-West. The significance of producing local knowledges and their dialectical relationships with global discourses has been theorised extensively in curriculum studies (see, for example, Gough, 2003, 2014). Yet, as Kanu (2006) argues, curriculum inquiry that deploys the “postcolonial imagination” in conceptualising curriculum as a cultural practice has not proliferated, and we need to obtain more theoretical and practical insights. Thus, we suggest the following questions as focuses for this approach:

• How can scholars in East Asian countries, as insiders, reconceptualise shadow education, by studying “hidden” cultural elements that might not be discernible to outsiders?

• What ideas, concepts, and cultural elements from East Asia can be used to theorise shadow education as a decolonising curriculum text?

• How is shadow education represented by Western ideology, and to what extent is this ideology embedded in non-Western nations’ discourses?

• How does understanding shadow education as decolonising curriculum text challenge or disrupt its existing image?

As Ozaki (2015) argues, the images of shadow education in both West and East have largely been constructed from a Western standpoint. For instance, Seth (2002) characterises the pursuit of education in South Korea as an “education fever”, which has driven the uptake of shadow education in several East Asian countries. This image is constructed from a critical perspective on the roles of shadow education in reproducing social inequalities, but it is also a pejorative term: “fever” is usually something one wants to avoid, and thereby produces a negative image of education in these nations. Yet “education fever” can also refer to enthusiasm, desire, and respect for education. We are troubled by this discourse because the negative image of East Asian shadow education projected by Western scholars might occlude alternative understandings. This project recognises the importance of “place” that Kincheloe and Pinar (1991) theorise, which emphasises the specificity of dynamic local histories, cultures, and other distinctive ways in which the historicity and culture of a place is enacted and embodied by the lives of its populace. Focusing on the context does not necessarily mean enhancing provincialism, but rather promoting “localness”. As Gough (2003, p. 54, emphasis in original) argues, “ Thinking locally and recognising its localness enhances rather than diminishes its potential contribution to international knowledge work.”

This perspective conceives shadow education in East Asian countries as emerging and diversifying cultural capital. For example, a relatively recent shadow education-related cultural phenomenon emerges in Park et al.’s (2015, p. 5) study of South Korean “Gangnam mothers”, who work individually or collectively to find the best education-related information in order to get their child the most suitable educational support. One implication of their study for understanding shadow education as decolon­ising text is that it is a space in which multiple agents create a new culture of education through active engagement with others. How this emerging culture will affect or interact with shadow education is largely a matter of speculation. Representing shadow education in South Korea as “educational fever” is a Western (i.e., colonialist) construction of the Other which we need to go beyond. In this respect, the strategies that indigenous peoples can use in decolonising research methodologies (see, for example, Smith, 2013) might also inform the project of understanding shadow education as decolonising text.

There is little research on shadow education in the field of curriculum studies, whereas it has received much scholarly attention in other fields such as comparative education, lifelong education, the sociology of education, and educational administration and policy studies. Given the direction of shadow education in many countries, we argue that without subjecting it to rigorous study, specifically its curricular significance, our efforts to understand how contemporary students learn will necessarily be incomplete. Whether we can negotiate the intersections between shadow education and public education is an open question. Its importance is made obvious by recent research, but the specifics of students’ learning in that domain, such as which aspects of shadow education attract and satisfy students, what types of shadow education exist, and the potential research topics and areas to be explored in that space are largely unknown. We argue for a departure from preoccupations with inquiry focused on public school curricula that ignore shadow education as a new reality, and we have therefore attempted to theorise shadow education as a new research focus of transnational curriculum inquiry. To do so, we have suggested what kinds of perspectives can be used and what kinds of questions can be asked.

We argue that shadow education can be a new area for worldwide curriculum studies insofar as it has been marginalised from mainstream discourses and largely considered to be a non-Western phenomenon. Given its focus on learning and achievement, which is also the raison d’être of formal education, we confidently predict that shadow education will continue to be desired by students and parents and will be incorporated increasingly into the ecology of education in many nations. In this regard, we as curriculum researchers must make the effort to produce new insights and knowledge of shadow education.

1 First Tutors is located in the UK and provides services in countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, and South Africa. School Tutoring Academy is located in the US and provides services in the US and Canada.

2 Kumon is a Japanese company that provides services in 49 countries across the world. Red Pen is a Korean company that sells its contents to 69 countries around the world. Purunet is a Korean-based company. Nunnoppi, also known as E.nopi or Eye Level Learning, is a Korean company that provides services in 25 countries.

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The authors

Young Chun Kim is a professor in the Department of Education at Chinju National University of Education, Republic of Korea. His research includes curriculum theorising, qualitative research, cultural studies, and postcolonial and transnational curriculum studies.

Email : [email protected]

Noel Gough is Professor Emeritus and Foundation Professor of Outdoor and Environ­mental Education at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. His teaching, research, and publications focus on research methodology and curriculum studies, with particular reference to environmental education, science education, internationalisation, and globalisation.

Email : [email protected]

Jung-Hoon Jung (corresponding author) teaches in the Department of Education of Chonnam National University, Republic of Korea. His research interests include curriculum theorising, teacher education, inter-cultural studies, and autobiographical inquiry. His works resist, theoretically and practically, the instrumental rationality in education.

Email : [email protected]

Spotlight on China pp 85–99 Cite as

• Shadow Education

The Rise and Implications of Private Supplementary Tutoring

• Wei Zhang 5 &
• Mark Bray 6  

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Part of the Spotlight on China book series (SPOT)

Private supplementary tutoring beyond the hours of formal schooling is widely known as shadow education (e.g., Bray, 1999, 2009; Buchmann et al., 2010; Stevenson & Baker, 1992). It only exists because of the existence of mainstream education. Much of the curriculum in the shadow mimics the curriculum in the schools, and the shadow sector grows as the school sector grows.

• School Leader
• Compulsory Education
• Private Tutoring
• Supplementary Education

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Zhang, W., Bray, M. (2016). Shadow Education. In: Guo, S., Guo, Y. (eds) Spotlight on China. Spotlight on China. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-881-7_6

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