Managing illegitimacies: Teachers and private tutoring in Myanmar’s shadow education sector

Abstract

Around the world, the provision of private supplementary tutoring, widely known as “shadow education”, is attracting increased attention. In many countries, teachers are major providers of such tutoring outside their official school hours. Other providers include personnel in tutorial centres, and university students who operate informally. Governments commonly have reservations about teachers providing shadow education, and some authorities have regulations that limit or prohibit such provision. Myanmar is among the countries in this category, yet private tutoring by serving teachers remains common. This article examines the reasons, presenting ways in which teachers manage activities which are technically illegitimate but, in the eyes of many teachers and the families they serve, can be justified on both practical and moral grounds. In so doing, the article contributes to the international literature to assist in the conceptual understanding of the roles of teachers in the expanding phenomenon of shadow education.