REGULAR ARTICLE
Private tutoring expenditure: An empirical analysis based on Sri Lankan households
Asankha Pallegedara,
Corresponding Author
Asankha Pallegedara
Wayamba University, Makandura, Sri Lanka
Also affiliated to Passau University, Germany.Correspondence
Department of Industrial Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka and Chair of Development Economics, Passau University, Passau, Germany.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAsankha Pallegedara,
Corresponding Author
Asankha Pallegedara
Wayamba University, Makandura, Sri Lanka
Also affiliated to Passau University, Germany.Correspondence
Department of Industrial Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka and Chair of Development Economics, Passau University, Passau, Germany.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
This study analyzes private tutoring expenditure in Sri Lanka using two decades of household survey data combined with school census data. We use descriptive statistics and regression analysis as well as a factor decomposition method to explore the role of various factors affecting household private tutoring expenditure. Empirical results suggest that household private tutoring expenditure have continuously risen over the years. The household socioeconomic status is factor with strong influence and relative importance affecting household private tutoring expenses. There appears to be ethnic disparities in household private tutoring expenditure. Moreover, results also suggest that spending on private tutoring could be reduced if standardized school teacher rates at a district level are increased. If the observed trends in private tutoring continue, they can have social implications for education equity, which can undermine the objective of the free education policy in Sri Lanka.
REFERENCES
- Aturupane, H. (2009). The pearl of great price: Achieving equitable access to primary and secondary education and enhancing learning in Sri Lanka (CREATE Pathways to Access, Research Monograph 29). London, U.K.: Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/588171468302710856/The-pearl-of-great-price-achieving-equitable-access-to-primary-and-secondary-education-and-enhancing-learning-in-Sri-Lanka
- Azam, M. (2016). Private tutoring: Evidence from India. Review of Development Economics, 20(4), 739–761. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12196.
- Bray, M. (1999). The shadow education system: Private tutoring and its implications for planners (Fundamentals of Educational Planning 61). Paris: UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP).
- Bray, M. (2006). Private supplementary tutoring: Comparative perspectives on patterns and implications. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 36(4), 515–530. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057920601024974.
10.1080/03057920601024974 Google Scholar
- Bray, M. (2007). The shadow education system: Private tutoring and its implications for planners ( 2nd ed.). Paris: UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001184/118486e.pdf
- Bray, M. (2009). Confronting the shadow education system: What government policies for what private tutoring. Paris: UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001851/185106E.pdf
- Bray, M., & Lykins, C. (2012). Shadow education: Private supplementary tutoring and its implications for policy makers in Asia. Mandaluyong City, The Philippines: Asian Development Bank and Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong.
- Bray, M., Zhan, S., Lykins, C., Wang, D., & Kwo, O. (2014). Differentiated demand for private supplementary tutoring: Patterns and implications in Hong Kong secondary education. Economics of Education Review, 38, 24–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.10.002.
- Buchmann, C. (2002). Getting ahead in Kenya: Social capital, shadow education, and achievement. In B. Fuller & E. Hannum (Eds.), Schooling and social capital in diverse cultures (Research in the Sociology of Education, Vol. 13) (pp. 133–159). Bingley, U.K.: Emerald Group. https://doi.org/10.1108/s1479-3539(2002)0000013008.
10.1108/S1479-3539(2002)0000013008 Google Scholar
- Buchmann, C., Condron, D. J., & Roscigno, V. J. (2010). Shadow education, American style: Test preparation, the SAT and college enrollment. Social Forces, 89(2), 435–462. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2010.0105.
- Choi, H., & Choi, A. (2016). Regulating private tutoring consumption in Korea: Lessons from another failure. International Journal of Educational Development, 49, 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.03.002.
- Costa-Font, J. (2010). Does devolution lead to regional inequalities in welfare activity? Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 28(3), 435–449. https://doi.org/10.1068/c09156.
10.1068/c09156 Google Scholar
- Dang, H. A. (2007). The determinants and impact of private tutoring classes in Vietnam. Economics of Education Review, 26(6), 683–698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2007.10.003.
- Dang, H. A., & Rogers, F. H. (2008). The growing phenomenon of private tutoring: Does it deepen human capital, widen inequalities, or waste resources? The World Bank Research Observer, 23(2), 161–200. https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/lkn004.
- Dang, H. A., & Rogers, F. H. (2016). The decision to invest in child quality over quantity: Household size and household investment in education in Vietnam. The World Bank Economic Review, 30(1), 104–142. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhv048.
- Davies, S., & Aurini, J. (2006). The franchising of private tutoring: A view from Canada. Phi Delta Kappan, 88(2), 123–128. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170608800209.
- Dawson, W. (2010). Private tutoring and mass schooling in East Asia: Reflections of inequality in Japan, South Korea, and Cambodia. Asia Pacific Education Review, 11(1), 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-009-9058-4.
- Department of Census and Statistics (DCS). (1993). Household income and expenditure survey 1990/91: Final report. Colombo: DCS.
- Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka (DCS). (2015). Final report on household income and expenditure survey (HIES) 2012/2013. Colombo: DCS.
- Fields, G. S. (2003). Accounting for income inequality and its change: A new method, with application to the distribution of earnings in the United States. Research in Labor Economics, 22(3), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-9121(03)22001-X.
- Fiorio, C. V., & Jenkins, S. P. (2010). INEQRBD: Stata module to calculate regression-based inequality decomposition (Statistical Software Components, S456960). Boston, MA: Boston College, Department of Economics.
- Graham, C., & Nikolova, M. (2015). Bentham or Aristotle in the development process? An empirical investigation of capabilities and subjective well-being. World Development, 68, 163–179.
- Hamid, M. O., Sussex, R., & Khan, A. (2009). Private tutoring in English for secondary school students in Bangladesh. TESOL Quarterly, 43(2), 281–308. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00168.x.
- Hayashi, M., & Oyama, A. (2014). Factor decomposition of inter-prefectural health care expenditure disparities in Japan (No. CIRJE-F-948). Tokyo: CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
- Heng, Y. (2008). Fiscal disparities and the equalization effects of fiscal transfers at the county level in China. Annals of Economics and Finance, 9(1), 115–149. https://doi.org/10.1787/18151973.
- Huang, B., & Chen, K. (2012). Are intergovernmental transfers in China equalizing? China Economic Review, 23(3), 534–551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2012.01.001.
- Jayachandran, S. (2014). Incentives to teach badly: After-school tutoring in developing countries. Journal of Development Economics, 108, 190–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2014.02.008.
- Jheng, Y. J. (2015). The influence of private tutoring on middle-class students’ use of in-class time in formal schools in Taiwan. International Journal of Educational Development, 40, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.11.019.
- Kang, C. (2011). Family size and educational investments in children: Evidence from private tutoring expenditures in South Korea. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 73(1), 59–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2010.00607.x.
- Kim, J. H., & Park, D. (2010). The determinants of demand for private tutoring in South Korea. Asia Pacific Education Review, 11(3), 411–421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-009-9067-3.
- Kim, S., & Lee, J. H. (2010). Private tutoring and demand for education in South Korea. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 58(2), 259–296. https://doi.org/10.1086/648186.
- Kuan, P. Y. (2011). Effects of cram schooling on mathematics performance. Comparative Education Review, 55(3), 342–368. https://doi.org/10.1086/659142.
- Little, A. W., Upul, I. H. N., & Rolleston, C. (2011). Access, attendance and achievement in rural schools in Sri Lanka (CREATE Pathways to Access Series, Research Monograph Number 73). Falmer, U.K.: Centre for International Education, Department of Education, University of Sussex.
- Liu, J. (2012). Does cram schooling matter? Who goes to cram schools? International Journal of Educational Development, 32(1), 46–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2011.01.014.
- Ministry of Education Sri Lanka (MOESL). (2016). School census preliminary reports. Colombo: MOESL.
- Pallegedara, A. (2012). Demand for private tutoring in a free education country: The case of on Sri Lanka. International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 3(4), 375–393. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEED.2012.052321.
10.1504/IJEED.2012.052321 Google Scholar
- Ranasinghe, A., & Hartog, J. (2002). Free-education in Sri Lanka. Does it eliminate the family effect? Economics of Education Review, 21(6), 623–633. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(01)00038-3.
- Ryu, D., & Kang, C. (2013). Do private tutoring expenditures raise academic performance? Evidence from middle school students in South Korea. Asian Economic Journal, 27(1), 59–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/asej.12002.
- Shorrocks, A. F. (1982). Inequality decomposition by factor components. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 50(1), 193–211. https://doi.org/10.2307/1912537.
- Suraweera, A. V. (2011). Dr. Kannangara's free education proposals in relation to the subsequent expansion of the tuition industry (Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara Memorial Lecture 22). Maharagama, Sri Lanka: Department of Research and Development, National Institute of Education.
- Tansel, A., & Bircan, F. (2006). Demand for education in Turkey: A Tobit analysis of private tutoring expenditures. Economics of Education Review, 25(3), 303–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2005.02.003.
- Tilakaratna, G., Galapattige, A., Jayathilaka, R., & Perera, R. (2008). Educational opportunities for the poor in Sri Lanka: Assessing spatial disparities. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Institute of Policy Studies.
- Wan, G. (2004). Accounting for income inequality in China: A regression-based approach. Journal of Comparative Economics, 32(2), 348–363.
- World Bank. (2015). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC: World Bank.
10.1596/978-1-4648-0484-7_world_development_indicators Google Scholar
- Zhang, W. (2014). The demand for shadow education in China: Mainstream teachers and power relations. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 34(4), 436–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2014.960798.
- Zhang, W., & Bray, M. (2016). Shadow education. In S. Guo & Y. Guo (Eds.), Spotlight on China: Changes in education under China's market economy (pp. 85–99). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-881-7_6.
10.1007/978-94-6209-881-7_6 Google Scholar
