Private tutoring that mirrors the school curriculum grows with the stakes of examinations, and widens the advantage of families who can pay for it.
Stevenson and Baker named it in 1992 from Japan, where the juku cram schools shadowed the school system and shaped who reached university. Bray's 1999 study for UNESCO found the same parallel system across Asia and beyond, largest where a single examination decides a child's future. China banned for-profit tutoring in core school subjects in 2021 in an attempt to contain it.
In practice
- A country raises the stakes of its university entrance exam and watches enrolment at evening cram schools climb in step.
- Parents who swore they would never hire a tutor hire one in the year before the exam, because every other family in the class has.
- Standing
- Whether tutoring raises achievement by much is disputed; the growth with exam stakes and the link to family income are the robust parts. Compare gyoyukyeol and kiasu.
- Subject
- Learning & Education
- Essay
- What works in learning, and what schools can and cannot change