From Classroom to Private Tutoring: The Deep Educational Inequalities in Lebanon

Imagine a childhood where the school day extends long past the final bell, filled with relentless academic demands. Welcome to Lebanon, where I grew up navigating an educational landscape renowned for its difficulty and where instruction at schools is primarily in French and English, while Arabic, the native language, is taught as a separate subject.

I cannot forget the exam periods, when my parents used to hire after-school private tutors to help me get good marks in core subjects like English, French, math, and sciences. This additional support came at a significant cost, adding to the already substantial annual school fees that my parents paid. At that time, my parents and I accepted this as a normal part of the educational process and as I pursued my degree in teacher education, I found myself immersed in this system, providing tutoring services myself in the afternoons and some weekends. It was an unending educational merry-go-round, mornings spent studying at university, and afternoons devoted to tutoring sessions at my house.

Looking back, I never questioned this whirlwind of learning, nor did I consider the toll it might take on students’ joy and wellbeing. It never crossed my mind. I was simply riding the wave, following the norms of the time, and enhancing my income without pause for reflection. Little did I know that the practice of after-school private tutoring, so embedded in my routine, would become the focus of my research years later. Transitioning from student to schoolteacher, I experienced both sides of this educational dynamic. Like many of my university colleagues, I took up tutoring as a side job without questioning its prevalence. Only after securing my first teaching position at a high fee-paying private school did I begin to grasp the bigger picture. I was struck by the parents’ dedication, perhaps even desperation, to secure every possible advantage for their children. From dawn to dusk, these children were trapped in an unrelenting cycle of “learning mode” balancing school, after-school private tutoring, and extracurricular activities.

This made me question: What is the true purpose of school if additional tutoring is essential? Are parents pushing their children too hard and why do they have to pay twice, straining both themselves and their children to the limit? These questions lingered until Lebanon’s recent crises cast a stark light on the issue. The combination of political instability, a refugee crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2019 economic and banking collapse plunged many families into poverty (Al Khalili, 2023). High unemployment, restricted bank withdrawals, hyperinflation, and currency depreciation severely eroded parents’ ability to afford tuition fees. Despite these hardships, the shadow education sector an academic term for the private tutoring industry (Bray & Hajar, 2023), began to boom once again, especially with the unprecedented exodus toward free state education but with a higher cost this time.

My latest research about school choice in Lebanon uncovers a stark reality. It reveals that private tutoring is no longer reserved for private schools or those parents who appear able to afford it. For many students, particularly those shifting to free state schools because of the compounded severe crises, private tutoring has become extraordinarily essential for advancing to the next grade. This necessity is driven by Lebanon’s high-stakes exam-based educational system and the common practice of grade repetition starting in grade four, a significant concern for families as state schools lack the academic support available in private schools.

The findings of my study reveal a striking inequality in the Lebanese society between the different socioeconomic groups. Prestigious fee-paying private schools provide complimentary remedial tutoring in addition to after school private tutoring sessions, enabling parents to invest more in enhancing their children’s academic capital. In contrast, underfunded state schools leave parents struggling to secure private tutors merely to help their children keep pace. This has further deepened the inequalities in education. State schools, burdened with poor infrastructure and unpaid teachers, fail to provide quality education that parents seek. Consequently, the struggling families turn to private tutoring as a temporary solution, often stretching their financial resources to the breaking point and straining their relationships with their children.

The impact of private tutoring has become profound, affecting both children and their parents. Children face burnout, with minimal time for play or social interactions during the day, while parents, motivated by the hope of securing a brighter future for their children, find themselves trapped in an exhausting cycle of work. They endure immense hardship, metaphorically melting like candles in front of their children under the relentless strain.

From a research perspective, this issue extends beyond Lebanon’s borders. Across the Middle East and East Asia, shadow education is exerting significant influence over formal schooling systems. It reflects a deeper, systemic problem that is the perceived decline in state education quality and the extraordinary financial measures parents take to provide their children with better education. In Lebanon, the compounding crises have rendered state education more essential than ever, as many parents face severe financial difficulties. Yet, for those who can afford it, private tutoring remains a vital lifeline, a temporary fix to a deeper, more pervasive problem.

As an educator and researcher, I am constantly grappling with the question: How can we build an education system that truly supports all students without driving them to exhaustion and when will the time come when all students regardless of their financial and social background can go to the same school and get the same quality education without needing after school private tutors from very early stages as what has happened in Lebanon?

Maybe there is hope, particularly given the unprecedented demand and exodus for state education due to the compounded crises. As more families turn to state schooling, policy makers should focus on better national education policies aimed at strengthening state education and improving the salary of schoolteachers. These improvements are essential at this critical juncture in the modern history of Lebanon and the intervention has become a must as scholastic achievement is increasingly determined by the financial resources of the parents rather than the academic abilities of students, thereby further deepening education inequalities in Lebanon.

References:

Al Khalili, T. (2023). Parents and School Choice in Lebanon [PhD dissertation, University of Exeter].

Bray, M., & Hajar, A. (2023). Shadow education in the Middle East: Private supplementary tutoring and its policy implication. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003317593

Tamara Al Khalili

Tamara is a passionate educator and researcher with expertise in educational policy and TESOL. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Exeter, complemented by multiple master’s degrees in education-related fields. Her PhD research project explores the intricate relationships between educational policies, societal inequalities, and the role of education in perpetuating social disparities. Tamara’s diverse teaching experience across schools and higher education institutions spans multiple countries, including the UK, the Arab Gulf, and the Middle East. This international exposure has shaped her teaching philosophy, which is deeply rooted in the principle of lifelong learning. Tamara is currently a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Exeter. Her research interests focus on educational inequality and inclusive education. Beyond teaching and research, Tamara is committed to fostering collaboration and driving academic progress.