Recent decades have brought significant expansion of the so-called shadow education sector of private supplementary tutoring across the globe. Increasing numbers of school teachers provide such tutoring on a part-time basis; and increasing numbers of tutorial centres recruit teachers from schools to work full time. Tutorial centres also recruit…

Private supplementary tutoring, widely known as shadow education, has become a global phenomenon. It has a range of providers, including commercial companies, university students desiring extra pocket money, and regular school teachers who provide tutoring as a sideline activity. This paper focuses on the last category. Governments are commonly…

Around the world, the provision of private supplementary tutoring, widely known as "shadow education", is attracting increased attention. In many countries, teachers are major providers of such tutoring outside their official school hours. Other providers include personnel in tutorial centres, and university students who operate…

Recent decades have brought global expansion of private supplementary tutoring, widely known as shadow education. Such tutoring consumes considerable resources and is usually viewed by participating households as an investment that will increase the recipients' academic achievements. However, research on the effectiveness of tutoring has…

An established literature draws on ecological concepts to analyze interrelationships within education structures and processes, and the impact of shifting balances. Private supplementary tutoring--relatively new in ecosystems of education around the world--is creating significant changes in relationships, particularly as they concern teachers'…

The institutional framework of the field of comparative education has developed significantly in recent decades. One manifestation of development has been the establishment and activities of professional societies. This paper focuses on 12 societies that operate in Asia and the Pacific. Some of these societies have long histories while others are…

Expanding numbers of researchers are focusing on the scale and impact of private supplementary tutoring. Such tutoring is widely called shadow education, since much of its curriculum mimics that of regular schooling. Although shadow education has expanded significantly worldwide and is now recognized to have far-reaching significance, research…

Most governments, at an official level, espouse the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among its statements is that education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Yet while the façade of government education systems presents an image that instruction is free of charge, families across the…

This report was produced for the 2012 Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers meeting in Mauritius. Its main purpose is to track the historical progress and likelihood of attainment of Education For All and education-specific Millennium Development Goals while also critically reviewing the methods used to track this progress. The analyses…

Research on shadow education has considerably increased in volume and has helped to improve understanding of the scale, nature, and implications of the phenomenon. However, the field is still in its infancy. Literature on shadow education reflects confusion over terms and parameters, and data suffer from challenges in securing evidence from actors…

The fields of comparative and international education have overlapping identities and are commonly paired. The overlap and pairing has been evident in the history of "Compare" as well as elsewhere. However, the indistinct nature of the boundaries can cause conceptual difficulties. Taking a historical perspective not only on "Compare" and its…

Private supplementary tutoring has long been a major phenomenon in parts of East Asia, including Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. In recent times it has grown dramatically in other parts of Asia and in Africa, Europe and North America. The factors underlying the growth of private tutoring vary, but in all settings it has major…

The Hong Kong system of student loans for higher education has worked efficiently since 1969. Many factors in its success are location-specific, but other governments may both learn from and contribute to the Hong Kong experience. (MSE)

Despite Hong Kong and Macau's cultural, economic, and political similarities, their higher education systems differ. Hong Kong has a well-established system and tradition of government control. Macau's system is smaller, younger, and began as a private enterprise. Trends in government financing, policies, and student loans are bringing the systems…

Outlines strategies to reduce inequities in numerous counties, focusing on the distribution of financial and human resources. Also addresses issues of diversity and conformity in education systems. Reduction of regional imbalances does not necessarily require imposition of uniformity, but the diversity caused by decentralization is not always…