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Bray, M. (2009). Confronting the Shadow Education System: What Government Policies for What Private Tutoring? Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning. 134 p., ISBN 978-92-803-1333-8.In this publication, Mark Bray, the director of UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) between 2006 and 2010, introduces private supplementary tutoring, a phenomenon that several countries have been facing in different forms and with different intensity for quite some time. Private supplementary tutoring represents the of the formal education system, since changes in the education system also change private supplementary tutoring, which would not even exist without the former. Being familiar with the shadow enables the observer to identify changes taking place within the system and its broader context. With the meaningful title, the author also exposes the dilemma that policymakers and planners face in dealing with and responding to this phenomenon and its growth, which demands constant observation and analysis, since different circumstances require different responses and measures. The author supports his observations with explicit and exact analyses and descriptions of the situation and changes in different countries. Moreover, he uses many illustrative real-life examples and student3 experiences, which add to the authenticity and clarity of the text. The publication is based on a UNESCO IIEP forum that was held under the same title in Paris in 2007, and is a continuation of a study from 1999.4 The content refers only to fee-paying private supplementary tutoring of basic (i.e., academic) subjects at the primary and secondary levels of national education systems.Despite many criticisms of private tutoring, there are certainly some positive effects, such as increased focus on the individual and consideration of their specific learning characteristics and needs, more interesting teaching, faster feedback, better student progress, etc., which should also be qualities of the formal education system. Students who are low achievers can benefit from private tutoring by catching up with what they have missed, while high achievers can attempt to attain even higher academic goals. However, the author is critical of private tutoring causing and enhancing social and economic inequality, dominating children's lives and reducing their free time. Furthermore, it can even distort the formal education curriculum, resulting in private tutoring shifting from being a passive shadow to having an active effect on the education system, either supporting or undermining it. It is important that policymakers and planners identify the phenomenon of private tutoring in time, realise the capacity of its (negative) effects and confront them.In the first part of the present book, the author presents the extent, forms and patterns of private tutoring, as well as providing an overview of various countries and regions. Private tutoring can be carried out in a one-on-one setting with direct contact between the student and the private tutor, or in the form of lectures to a larger group of students. It can be organised on the basis of an individual agreement or within a private tutoring centre. With the development of technology, private tutoring is also provided with the help of modern ICT tools. The intensity and frequency of tutoring sessions vary according to (examination) periods, but it is found in countries with low and high revenues and in households with different incomes. Private tutoring is more frequent in urban than rural environments, and in some countries it is received by more boys than girls,5 etc. There are some extreme practices that catch the eye, e.g., the occurrence of corruption in some countries as the result of school teachers providing (or being forced to provide) private tutoring sessions. This often has negative consequences, as during regular instruction teachers omit parts of the curriculum knowing that students will receive tutoring lessons, sometimes even doing so in order to broaden the market for private tutoring. …
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