ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the impact of shadow education on the Education for All movement. The expansion of shadow education has penetrated poor as well as middle-income and rich communities. The chapter discusses the scale of shadow education in a spread of countries. While shadow education is especially evident at the senior secondary level, in many countries it is increasingly prominent at the primary level. Shadow education may damage regular schools by taking away talent altogether. The tutoring industry has many amateurs, but it also has many strong professionals. Much of the concern about privatisation of education systems has focused on schools that are operated privately and attract children as an alternative to public institutions. Less focus has been devoted to shadow education, which in many nations is a fee-paying supplement in officially fee-free systems. However, shadow education can also undermine mainstream schooling, leading to inefficiencies and to exclusion of some social groups.
