Web: www.bracresearch.org Private Supplementary Tutoring among Primary Students in Bangladesh

Using the databases created under Education Watch, a civil society initiative to monitor primary and basic education in Bangladesh, this paper explores trends, socioeconomic differentials, and cost in private supplementary tutoring among primary students and its impact on learning achievement. The rate of primary school students getting access to private supplementary tutoring is increasing two percentage points per year and reached at 31 % in 2005. Incidence of private tutor was more among the boys and the urban students than their respective counterparts. Educated parents and the well-off families were more likely to arrange supplementary tutoring for their children. A wide variation in the cost for private tutoring prevailed. The tutees spent 46 % of their total private expenditure for education on supplementary tutoring. Supplementary tutoring helped students learn more than those had no such support. Private tutors for primary school students have become a well-accepted norm. Finally, a number of social implications were discussed.