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

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The so-called shadow education system of private supplementary tutoring is growing in prominence around the world, and is particularly evident in Asia. It has now (belatedly) come onto the agenda of scholars in the field of comparative and international education.

This pair of panels brings together papers from China, India, Japan, South Korea and Myanmar. Their foci relate to the overall conference theme, stressing that education for sustainable development is not just about schooling. Major questions concern who gets what shadow education, and how it impacts on wider social, economic and political domains. Shadow education also has implications for the body that it imitates, i.e. affecting the processes and outcomes of regular schooling.

The first group of four papers commences with a study on perceptions of tutors and of regular teachers in Hong Kong. The author collected data not only from students who received tutoring but also from students who did not do so. The paper shows not only that the two channels may run in parallel but also that they may interact with and affect each other.

The second paper, focusing on China, shows ways in which the much more recent development of shadow education has gathered speed and come to dominate the lives of many families. Drawing particularly from data in Beijing, it focuses on changing patterns of demand as children progress through primary schooling and to the lower secondary level. It includes focus on the balances between academic and non-academic tutoring as children grow older.

Turning to West Bengal, India, the third paper also addresses patterns of demand but at the level of senior secondary education. In this part of India, tutoring is delivered through less formal channels than in China. Using an ecological lens, the paper shows ways in which tutoring supports students to achieve their goals but also undermines some roles of the school sector.

The last paper in this panel summarizes occupational standards for tutors in Australia, China and Japan. It echoes issues addressed in the other papers regarding tutor perceptions and tutoring regulations.

The second group of papers commences with Myanmar. The previous regime, dominated by an autocratic regime, endeavored to impose strict controls on shadow education. Teachers were forbidden to provide private supplementary tutoring, and companies were subject to regulations with harsh penalties for infringement. Nevertheless, data from the first in-depth study of the theme in Myanmar show that many teachers do provide tutoring and that companies commonly ignore the regulations. The question then is why these patterns persist and what can be learned from it.

The next paper turns again to India, this time focusing on Maharashtra State. A link can be made to the Myanmar paper insofar as this Indian study focuses issues of corruption. The sector has been largely unregulated in this paper of India, but new regulations are in the pipeline. One question is what can be learned from experience in Myanmar, China and Japan on the extent to which the regulations are likely to be effective.

The question is partly answered by the last paper that focuses on regulations in East Asia, which has long traditions of private tutoring. Historically, Ministry of Education has frowned on tutoring institutions. More recent pictures show forms of public-private partnership which are an instructive evolution.

Taken as a set of seven, the papers show the role of contextual factors, including culture, economics and politics. Their focus on the shadow sector broadens the focus of study beyond formal schooling, and builds on the work of previous CIES conferences, taking it to the next level.

Panel 1:
- Kevin Yung, ‘Comparing Private Tutors and Schoolteachers: Perceptions of Students with and without English Private Tutoring in Hong Kong’
- Liu Junyan, ‘Evolving Micro-level Processes of Demand for Private Supplementary Tutoring: Patterns and Implications at Primary and Lower Secondary Levels in China’
- Pubali Ghosh, ‘Demand for Private Tutoring among Secondary Science Stream Students in West Bengal, India: An Ecological Perspective’
- Feng Siyuan, Zhou Cuiping, ‘Occupational Standards for Private Tutors in Australia, Mainland China, Japan and Taiwan: A Comparative Review of Policies and Practices’

Panel 2:
- Mark Bray, ‘Private Supplementary Tutoring and Issues of Legitimacy in Myanmar: Regulations and Realities in the Hidden Marketplace
- Shalini Bhorkar, ‘Educational Corruption arising in and through the Private Tutoring Sector in Maharashtra State, India’
- Zhang Wei, ‘Regulating Supplementary Education in East Asia: Lessons from Shifting Paradigms’

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Individual Presentations

• Private Supplementary Tutoring and Issues of Legitimacy in Myanmar: Regulations and Realities in the Hidden Marketplace - Mark Bray, East China Normal University/University of Hong Kong

• Educational corruption arising in and through the private tutoring sector in Maharashtra State, India - Shalini Bhorkar, UCL Institute of Education

• Regulating Supplementary Education in East Asia: Lessons from Shifting Paradigms - Wei Zhang, East China Normal University