Education in a Hidden Marketplace: Monitoring of Private Tutoring Overview and Country Reports Private Tutoring Monitoring Project Project Manager: Virginija Bu¯diene˙ Education Policy Center, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Lithuania Editors: Iveta Silova Center for Educational Innovations, Baku, Azerbaijan Virginija Bu¯diene˙ Education Policy Center, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Lithuania Mark Bray International Institute for Educational Planning, UNESCO, Paris, France Data processing and analysis: Algirdas Zabulionis Anglia Assessment Ltd. consulting company Copyeditor: Eric Johnson Education in a Hidden Marketplace: Monitoring of Private Tutoring Overview and Country Reports Azerbaijan Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Georgia Lithuania Mongolia Poland Slovakia Ukraine 2006 Education Support Program of the Open Society Institute Network of Education Policy Centers OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE Copyright © 2006 Open Society Institute All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. ISBN: 1-891385-63-1 978-1-891385-63-6 Cite as: ESP (2006). Education in a Hidden Marketplace: Monitoring of Private Tutoring. Budapest: Education Support Program (ESP) of the Open Society Institute. The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Society Institute. For more information, contact: Education Support Program Open Society Institute–Budapest www.soros.org/initiatives/esp Tel: +36 1 327 3100 Fax: +36 1 235 6147 Network of Education Policy Centers http://epc.objectis.net Published by Open Society Institute 400 West 59th Street New York, New York 10019 USA www.soros.org Cover design: Jeanne Criscola | Criscola Design Layout: Judit Kovács | Createch Ltd. Printer: Createch Ltd. Cover photograph: © 2006 JupiterImages Corporation Contents Foreword 7 Private Tutoring: Educating Society or Driving Social Stratification? Virginija Bu¯diene˙ Acknowledgments 11 Summary of Findings 13 Introduction 17 Iveta Silova and Mark Bray Part I: Concepts and Issues 25 Chapter 1 The Private Tutoring Phenomenon: 27 International Patterns and Perspectives Mark Bray and Iveta Silova Chapter 2 The Context: Societies and Education 41 in the Post-Socialist Transformation Iveta Silova and Mark Bray Chapter 3 Methodological Considerations 61 Iveta Silova, Mark Bray, and Algirdas Zabulionis Chapter 4 The Hidden Marketplace: 71 Private Tutoring in Former Socialist Countries Iveta Silova and Mark Bray Chapter 5 Implications for Policy and Practice 99 Iveta Silova and Mark Bray 5 Part II: Country Reports 111 Chapter 6 Azerbaijan 113 Iveta Silova and Elmina Kazimzade Chapter 7 Bosnia and Herzegovina 143 Dženana Husremovic´ and Dženana Trbic´ Chapter 8 Croatia 169 Zrinka Ristic´ Dedic´, Boris Jokic´, and Lana Jurko Chapter 9 Georgia 191 Anna Matiashvili and Nino Kutateladze Chapter 10 Lithuania 211 Virginija Bu¯diene˙ and Algirdas Zabulionis Chapter 11 Mongolia 237 Alison Dong, Batjargal Ayush, Bolormaa Tsetsgee, and Tumendelger Sengedorj Chapter 12 Poland 257 Barbara Murawska and Elz˙bieta Putkiewicz Chapter 13 Slovakia 279 Martina Kubánová Chapter 14 Ukraine 305 Liliya Hrynevych, Anna Toropova, Tymofiy Pylnyk, Leonid Sereda, and Ulyana Gerasevich Appendices 327 Appendix 1 General Characteristics of the Study Sample: 327 University Programs by the Level of Demand Appendix 2 Questionnaire 329 Glossary 341 Eric Johnson Notes on the Authors 343 Notes on Institutions 349 6 Foreword Private Tutoring: Educating Society or Driving Social Stratification? Virginija Bu¯diene˙ Quality public education is essential for building an open, democratic society, for main- taining social cohesion in any country, and for improving the quality of life of citizens and residents. Countries undergoing the transformation from socialist to democratic, market- based systems have been working since the early 1990s to reform their education systems, and the aim of these reforms has been the creation of an effective, high-quality educational environment for every child. The transformation to a market-based system has produced unpredicted consequences, however, and some of these might be jeopardizing equal access to quality education and undermining open society, social cohesion, and quality of life. This report examines how the opening of a free market for private tutoring has affected education, including access to institutions of higher education, in nine countries that once had socialist systems. The report is the result of a study into the nature, causes, and 7 consequences of private tutoring in Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. This study is a first attempt in these former socialist countries to document systematically and thoroughly the general character- istics of private tutoring, including its scale, cost, geographic spread, and subject matter; the main factors underlying the demand for private tutoring; and the educational, social, and economic impact of private tutoring on the education system. Initiated and backed by the Open Society Institute’s Education Support Program and the Network of Education Policy Centers, this study involved collecting information from existing resources, conducting a quantitative, comparative survey of university students, and critically analyzing both the circumstances contributing to the growth of private tutoring and the consequences of pri- vate tutoring for students from different geographical locations and socioeconomic groups. Each of the research teams in the nine countries participating in the study used, with slight adaptations, a template designed by the Education Policy Center of Vilnius University in Lithuania. The dramatic growth in private tutoring in these and other transition states is con- troversial because this growth might indicate that their public education systems are short- changing students, that the children of people in these countries who cannot afford costly private tutoring are finding themselves at a disadvantage both in terms of acquisition of knowledge and training and in terms of competing for limited positions at universities and other institutions of higher learning, and that this process might further the process of social stratification in these countries. The data, analyses, and policy recommendations on private tutoring in this study can serve national legislative bodies, ministries of educa- tion, school administrators, local authorities, and other policymakers as they review existing policies on private tutoring, formulate new policies, and monitor trends over time. This study can also help raise public awareness of the problems and benefits of private tutoring and will serve as an advocacy tool in the effort to make national education policies more equitable for all students. This report consists of an in-depth international comparative overview of the study’s findings as well as country reports on private tutoring prepared by each of the nine Educa- tion Policy Centers and their partners. Besides providing analysis of private tutoring in the participant countries, the country reports offer a set of recommendations for policymakers in each of these countries. Fuller versions of the country reports and various supporting materials appear at http://www.epc.objectis.net/Projects/Private_Tutoring/. The participating partner institutions of this monitoring project are committed to promoting a culture of open, constructive, and frank dialogue between civil society and government. Therefore, this monitoring project includes communication and advocacy strategies. The draft reports prepared for each country were presented during meetings 8 FOREWORD with policymakers, government officials, NGO representatives, and civil society activists. The aim of these meetings was to promote further discussion and critique the draft reports’ main findings. The launch of this report will be followed by international and regional advocacy activities and its findings and recommendations will be communicated to civil society at large, policymakers, and the media. The goal of releasing these findings and rec- ommendations is to raise public awareness of private tutoring and its effects, to broaden the discussion of how private tutoring should be managed, and to advocate for implementation of policy solutions that will improve the educational achievement of students regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographic location. Recently, with the backing of OSI’s Education Support Program, Education Policy Centers in Central Asia began monitoring private tutoring in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan using the same methodology applied in the study that produced this report. In this way, the body of data will be increased, and it will become possible to compare data across regions in order to find implications that different contexts bring to equity of educa- tion provision. Follow-up monitoring of private tutoring is also planned, as is the develop- ment of an international Private Tutoring Watch online. EDUCATION IN A HIDDEN MARKETPLACE 9 Acknowledgments The Private Tutoring Monitoring Project and Education in a Hidden Marketplace: Monitoring of Private Tutoring were made possible because the project managers in Azerbaijan, Bos- nia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine believed in the importance of monitoring and raising public awareness about issues impor- tant to open society