Tuitions spreading fast: ADB
5 July 2012 2:17 AM GMT
Private tutorial system is expanding at an alarming rate in Asia, with households in certain countries spending staggering portions of their incomes on it, a study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday. The private supplementary tutorial, also termed ‘shadow education’ because it mimics the mainstream system, may have negative as well as positive dimensions, it said.
South Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has long traditions of private tutoring, which is driven partly by social competition and also by teachers’ desire to increase their salaries, who see their pupils as captive market, the study said.
A 2008 market survey in India had estimated the size of the coaching sector at USD 6.4 billion and predicted the annual growth of 15 per cent over the subsequent four years, it said.
In a track record (2011) of 30,000 children in rural government primary schools in five Indian states, it was found that about 16 per cent of Classs II children and 18 per cent of Class IV received private tutorial.
The study found that there was a strong negative relationship between tutoring and school attendance. ‘Children in both grades were far less likely to be present in school. A possible explanation was that parents expected their children to learn more in paid classes than in school and therefore insisted less on school attendance,’ the study said.
In West Bengal, nearly 60 per cent of primary school students receive private supplementary tutoring, it said.The demand for private tutoring was mainly driven by the belief that investment in education can generate good returns from good performance in key examinations. Also, the perceptions of inadequacies in mainstream schooling and smaller families and increased wealth were among other factors.
South Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has long traditions of private tutoring, which is driven partly by social competition and also by teachers’ desire to increase their salaries, who see their pupils as captive market, the study said.
A 2008 market survey in India had estimated the size of the coaching sector at USD 6.4 billion and predicted the annual growth of 15 per cent over the subsequent four years, it said.
In a track record (2011) of 30,000 children in rural government primary schools in five Indian states, it was found that about 16 per cent of Classs II children and 18 per cent of Class IV received private tutorial.
The study found that there was a strong negative relationship between tutoring and school attendance. ‘Children in both grades were far less likely to be present in school. A possible explanation was that parents expected their children to learn more in paid classes than in school and therefore insisted less on school attendance,’ the study said.
In West Bengal, nearly 60 per cent of primary school students receive private supplementary tutoring, it said.The demand for private tutoring was mainly driven by the belief that investment in education can generate good returns from good performance in key examinations. Also, the perceptions of inadequacies in mainstream schooling and smaller families and increased wealth were among other factors.
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