Shadow education : perspective of stakeholders of a Maldivian secondary school / Fathimath Sheenaz Ali

Abstract:
Maldives is a high result oriented country where a large percentage of students are going for tuition in the belief that it improves students performance. However, only limited research has been conducted in the area. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to bring out the perception of stakeholders (students, teachers and parents) on Shadow Education. A phenomenological qualitative study was used to find the perception of stakeholders of a Maldivian secondary school. Four questions framed to answer the main issue are: who enters Shadow Education and why? Who provides Shadow Education and what are the motives behind the providers? What is taught in Shadow classes? How does shadow education affect students? Six participants were selected for the study using judgmental sampling. Data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview text. It was also found that the main aim of going for tuition is to improve students performance. It was also revealed that both qualified and unqualified teachers give tuition. The tuition provided by qualified teachers were better. Moreover, it was also found that there are teachers who are giving tuition to their mainstream students. It was revealed that tuition teachers work hard to increase students performance though there are working to get extra income. The effectiveness of what is taught in tuition is in question as there are some tutors who are teaching the mainstream content in advance. However, it was revealed that there are several issues raised due to tuition, including several ethical issues and hence, the need for a regulating system.