“If I do not bear such a burden today, I will bear it in the future”: The reasons for private tutoring and its perceived academic impact on children in Nigeria

Abstract

In Nigeria, parents invest in financially burdensome private tutoring for their children, amid high poverty levels. Utilizing qualitative interviews, we explored why parents often pay high tutoring fees to support their children’s education, despite the financial burden it creates, and how parents perceive the academic impact of private tutors. We purposively selected 15 parents who hired private tutors for their children in three states in Nigeria for the in-depth interviews. We found that hiring private tutors created a financial burden on parents. Additionally, we found that the major reason parents hired private tutors to support their children with their homework was to ensure they grew academically. Furthermore, the parents believed that the efforts of private tutors improved their children’s academic performance in reading, mathematics, and other relevant subjects. The parents cited various instances that made them believe that private tutoring improved their children’s academic performance. The implications of these findings for policies and research are discussed.