Public education versus private tutoring in Sri Lanka: who is contributing more?

Abstract

Introduction

Private tutoring, also known as ‘shadow education’ is a globally expanding phenomenon (Byun et. al. 2018). In Sri Lanka, supplementary private tutoring has long been a pervasive part of many students’ everyday experiences (Bray 2003). Even though the Sri Lankan government spends a huge amount of money per student (Rs. 11,804 in 2015 and Rs.11, 357 in 2016) for public education, many Sri Lankan children start attending private tution beginning from the Grade Five scholarship examination to the G.C.E A/L examination (Cole 2017). Among Sri Lankan students, private tutoring demand is very high. In 1990, it was estimated that 75 percent of G.C.E (A/L) students were attending private tuition classes. The proportion was 62 percent among G.C.E (A.L) arts students, 67 percent for G.C.E (A.L) commerce students and 92 percent among G.C.E (A.L) science students in 1990 (De Silva 1994). Empirical literature on private tutoring is growing; however whether shadow education indeed matters for academic achievement is still unclear and needs further analysis (Byun 2014: 54; Cole 2017). In Sri Lanka, the government always provides education at public cost while people also always clamor for free education. In such a situation, private tutoring is escalating. As a result, household expenditure for private tutoring is also increasing. It seems that parents enroll their students in public schools while sending them to learn in informal fee-paid out-of-school classes. As a result, parents have to spend much money on private tutoring. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding this area. Therefore this study is an attempt to assess the contribution of public schools and private tutoring classes on students’ academic performance and to estimate household expenditure for both public school education and private tutoring.