TLC Present Research on Private Tutoring at a Consultative Meeting on Public-Private Partnership

The Community Research and Consultancy Program team was invited to present findings of their one year study on “Private Tutoring and Public School Study: The Study of Six Schools In Cambodia” at a Consultative Meeting on Public-Private Partnership: Private Tutoring in Cambodia, in Phnom Penh on 14 December 2012. The aim of the meeting was to discuss issues regarding the Public-Private Partnership in education in Cambodia.

The meeting was attended by many national government departments and organisations including the Departments of Curriculum Development, Primary Education and Lower Secondary Education. Representatives from NGO Education Partnership (NEP), the Education Sector Working Group, the Think Tank and This Life Cambodia participated. Additionally, Teachers and an Advocacy and Campaigns Adviser from the Asian Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) attended.

Some of the issues discussed at the meeting included reasons why students are required to attend private classes, whether or not private classes should be a part of the national curriculum, and issues for poor children who cannot afford private tutoring.

Private tutoring in Cambodia is important because it supplements teachers’ salaries and provides students with the knowledge to keep up with the government school curriculum. However, the service provided by private tutoring brings inequality between students, because students who are unable to afford private tutoring classes are then unable to keep up with the school curriculum. Additionally, students who take private tutoring classes are perceived to get more attention from their parents, be smarter, more hardworking and receive better results at school than students who do not take private tutoring classes.

The study also recommends for more research on (a) the government education curriculum and (b) the long term impact of private tutoring in society.