A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE PRIVATE TUITION PHENOMENON IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Education serves as the main vehicle for social and economic mobility in Singapore. As there is much empirical evidence that educational levels and income levels are positively correlated, parents face strong economic incentives for investing in their children's education. This thesis thus focuses on private tuition, a multi-million dollar industry supplying parents' demand for supplements to their children's learning. Existing literature and data collected provide evidence that greater tuition use is associated with higher family incomes and parental educational levels, suggesting that students from less affluent families will be disadvantaged in school if tuition has positive impact on academic outcomes. In the long run, private tuition may thus exacerbate social and economic stratifications. At the same time, private tuition exists in diverse forms, which policies have to take into account if social efficiency and equity outcomes are to be well-balanced.