Private Supplementary Tutoring and Issues of Legitimacy in Myanmar: Regulations and Realities in the Hidden Marketplace

• In Event: Shadow education in Asia: comparative perspectives on private supplementary tutoring (panel 2)

Proposal

This paper draws on research in Yangon, Myanmar. The work was framed in a comparative context and investigated the scale, nature and policy implications of private supplementary tutoring – widely known as shadow education – in a random sample of eight schools. The study employed both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, and focused on the tutoring received by students in Grades 9 and 11. Although private supplementary tutoring has a long history in Myanmar, this was the first focused and detailed study of the phenomenon in the country. It was funded by UNESCO and conducted by a team from the University of Hong Kong with support from the Yangon University of Education.

The main focus of paper is on the private tutoring provided by teachers in the public system. Nearly half the surveyed teachers indicated that they provided such tutoring – but they did so in the face of official prohibition. Teachers were asked at the beginning of each academic year to sign statements that they would not provide private tutoring, but nearly half of the surveyed teachers indicated that they nevertheless did so. This was despite penalties that on paper were draconian – a fine equivalent to two months’ salary and/or – more strikingly – three years in jail.

Given that these regulations were clearly not being followed by large numbers of teachers, the obvious question is why not. The answers include tacit acceptance by all parties that it was a normal phenomenon and that in some ways it facilitated the overall running of the education system. Knowing that teachers were paid low salaries, their superiors were willing to turn a blind eye. Also, teachers were commonly pressed by parents to provide tutoring in the examination-dominated system. The paper will draw on questionnaire responses from 1,639 students and 331 teachers, and interviewed 107 students, teachers, principals, parents and other stakeholders. It will also draw on documentary sources of various kinds. The paper will show parallels with some other countries, especially low-income ones in other parts of Asia. At the same time, it will show distinctive features arising from Myanmar’s political, economic and social circumstances.

Author

• Mark Bray, East China Normal University/University of Hong Kong