National study "Private Tutoring in Romania: a Parallel or Complementary Educational System?"

The research is the first study that maps the phenomenon of shadow education in Romania after the country's accession to the European Union. Private tutoring in Romania, its dimension, causes and mechanisms can now be understood in much better terms, and education decision makers can benefit from a tool that can calibrate the coordinates of the public education system, so that it becomes more accessible and of better quality.

Key findings:

• Most parents agree that students need private lessons to gain knowledge at the intermediate level, and this activity should be taxed.

• The system of private lessons / tutoring is accessed to a greater extent by parents in urban areas, with secondary and higher education, who have one or two children in the family, above average income and who are dissatisfied with the public education system.

• One in three school children is included in this system of shadow education, with a higher frequency in the final grades, VIII and XII.

• The tutor's payment is made on the basis of an informal agreement and there are few cases based on a contractual form and / or tax receipts. The average cost of a private training session is between 50-100 lei, and a family pays monthly approximately 300 lei for a child.

• Mathematics, Romanian language and literature as well as foreign languages ​​are the subjects for which the most frequent training hours are required.

• One in three children participated in paid tutoring lessons in the 2019-2020 school year. They also participated in free consultations / training hours. Currently (school year 2020-2021), 19% of students participate in meditations, and 20% of parents already plan to take private lessons in the next period. If they think about the next school year, half of the parents think that their children will participate and will take private lessons.

• Private lessons take place in most cases with a teacher from another school (69%) and less with the teacher in the class (14%).

• 80% of parents mention a significant improvement in their child's school situation after receiving private lessons.

The policy brief, which contains recommendations and proposals for education decision makers, is available here.

More infiormation about the study and the overall project are available here.