The private tutoring industry in Taiwan: government policies and their implementation

Abstract

Previous studies show that attending private tutoring has become a necessity to many primary and secondary students in East Asia. Educational policies and their effective implementation are crucial to guarantee the healthy development of the private tutoring industry and thus protect the rights of students and their families. Under the framework of educational privatization, the paper discusses the evolution and characteristics of educational policies on the private tutoring industry since the mid-twentieth century in Taiwan. With documents and data mainly obtained from the website of the Short-term Supplementary Private Tutoring Section of the Taipei Education Bureau and field visits to Taipei city, the paper summarizes three strategies used by the Taipei government for implementation of policies. It concludes that educational policies on the private tutoring industry in Taiwan follow a privatization pattern of “market mechanism and government regulation”. The government does not provide or finance private tutoring centres in the market, but regulates them with strict and detailed rules. The comparison of the Taiwan case to other East Asian societies and its implications are also discussed.