International Journal of Education, Learning and Development Vol.6, No.9, pp.21-37, September 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) 21 Print ISSN: ISSN 2054-6297, Online ISSN: ISSN 2054-6300 THE DETERMINANTS OF DEMAND FOR PRIVATE TUTORING IN SRI LANKA B.W.R. Damayanthi * Department of Economics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka ABSTRACT: Private tutoring has engrossed much attention in Sri Lanka with the growing demand to meet the competitive education needs. This study brings together data collected via questionnaires from parents and students selected schools in four district of Sri Lanka and analyses the factors which determine the demand of private tutoring. The results found that the private tutoring is mainly determined by socio-demographic and economic characteristics of the student and household, such as student’s academic achievement level, intellectual behavior, parent’s level of education, household expenditure level, parent’s satisfaction of the school, parent teacher connectedness and parenting level, leisure choice. Results mainly implies that parents practice their academic and economic power to bypass the weaknesses of the current formal education system in the country creating a number of distortions resulting a huge resource waste and widening the inequality in education. The outcome of this study is useful in improving the formal education system in Sri Lanka. KEYWORDS: Private tutoring, Determinants, Sri Lanka INTRODUCTION Private Tutoring (PT) which has been defined as the lessons and related support obtained in academic subjects beyond the hours of mainstream formal schooling for a fee’’ (Bray et al., 2014; Silova et al., 2006), has become a rapidly expanding universal phenomenon(Bray & Lykins, 2012; Buchmann et al, 2010; Guill & Bos, 2014; Song et al., 2013). Broadly, PT may be received for either remedial or advancement purposes (Zang, 2015). High-achievers demand PT at least for two reasons; to raise further the existing level by maintaining their competitive advantage at school and as a supplement that fill the deficiencies of mainstream curricula. In contrast, low achievers seek tutoring to catch up with their peers (Zang, 2015; Song et al., 2013). Thus, limited participation in private tuition classes due to poor academic achievement now has developed to an extent where each and every student participate in PT irrespective of the level of achievement (Guill & Bos, 2014; Cook, 2013) though the public view on private tutoring is not wholly positive (Zang et al., 2013). Having no exceptions from the global trend, private tutoring has been expanding rapidly and has become a necessity (Pallegedara, 2011) within the education system in Sri Lanka. Students and parents create a heavy demand for private tutoring in terms of PT participation, intensity as well as span. Moreover, as in early decades PT is not limited only to lower performing students but for high achievers in order to improve their existing knowledge. According to De Silva (1994b) 80 percent of Year 6 students attended some form of private tuition classes while this proportion was 75 percent for Year 11 students in 1990. As in Aturupane et al., (2013), about 74 percent of grade four students attend PT. The intensity of PT is gradually increasing when students were getting promoted to higher school levels (Brehem et al., 2012). Students in senior secondary level (grade 12 and 13) tend to attend private tuition classes rather than attending the formal school sessions during the terms of tertiary education entrance exams. As