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Analyzing the Market for Shadow Education in Pakistan: Does Private Tuition Affect the Learning Gap between Private and Public Schools?

Author

Listed:
  • Bisma Haseeb Khan

    () (Research Associate, Institute for Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), Pakistan.)

  • Sahar Amjad Shaikh

    () (Teaching Fellow, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan.)

Abstract

Over the past decade, Pakistan has seen the rapid growth of a third sector in education: shadow education. According to the Annual Survey of Education Report (2013), 34 percent of private school students and 17 percent of public school students undertake private tuition in Punjab. Anecdotal evidence suggests that private tuition has a positive impact on learning outcomes. Keeping this in view, it is possible that private tuition, rather than a difference inschooling quality, is driving the observed learning gap between public and private schools? This study employs a fixed-effects framework, using panel data from the Learning and Educational Achievement in Punjab Schools (LEAPS) survey, to quantify the impact of private tuition on learning outcomes in public and private schools. We analyze the demand and supply dynamics of the shadow education market in Punjab, and find that private tuition has a positive significant effect on learning outcomes, specifically for public school students. For English, much of the learning gap between public and private schools is explained by the higher incidence of private tuition among private school students, but this is not the case for mathematics and Urdu. We also find thatprivate tuition is predominantly supplied by private school teachers, but that they do not shirk their regular class hours to create demand for their tuition classes, as is normally believed. On the demand side, private tuition acts as a substitute for receiving help at home. Moreover, it supplements formal education rather than substituting for low-quality formal schooling.

Suggested Citation

  • Bisma Haseeb Khan & Sahar Amjad Shaikh, 2013. "Analyzing the Market for Shadow Education in Pakistan: Does Private Tuition Affect the Learning Gap between Private and Public Schools?," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 18(Special E), pages 129-160, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:lje:journl:v:18:y:2013:i:sp:p:129-160
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    2. Tansel, AysIt & Bircan, Fatma, 2006. "Demand for education in Turkey: A tobit analysis of private tutoring expenditures," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 303-313, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public versus private education; education quality; tutoring; Pakistan.;

    JEL classification:

    • I00 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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