Philippine E-Journals

Confronting the Shadow Education System: What government policies for what private tutoring?

Mark Bray

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

Within the education sector throughout the world, research enthusiasts, education planners and policymakers is typically focus on the various aspects of formal schools across all year levels. Parallel to this mainstream education system and increasingly evident in many countries is what this book refers to as shadow education system. As a metaphor, the author, Mark Bray in 1999 first used the term “shadow”, referring to the object shadow which he used to describe a system of education that mimics mainstream education. Historically, this after-class activity started as a small and informal business usually in the home of either the tutor or the tutee, intended to help slow learners individually or in small groups outside their school hours for purposes of additional remuneration. It is also commonly known as private tutoring. Today, its presence which stems from the growing significance of educational achievement for future careers, and the greater pressure on schools to raise standards in countries where high stakes testing is more evident has led business entrepreneurs to establish SE institutions, thereby posing a challenge to the government as to how this growing type of service industry can be best regulated.