In the past few years, private tuition fees have risen, increasing the burden placed on parents and children by this shadow system. 

A father of three who spoke to The Sunday Morning said that the monthly expense for the tuition fees of their eldest child who is sitting for Advanced Level (A/L) exams in the Biology stream was Rs. 15,000. 

“Almost all of my eldest child’s classes in Negombo and Gampaha cost Rs. 5,000. Two of these are mass classes while one small class limits its students to 30.” 

The two younger children only attend English classes closer to their home away from the city. Even as it continues to be a key household expense of families, the expense doubles or triples according to the number of children in each family. 

Disparity between streams 

When it comes to selecting an A/L stream, various limitations exist when attempting to follow the biological or physical sciences. According to the Annual School Census of Sri Lanka for 2023, only around 30% of the country’s schools offer A/Ls in Science streams. 

While there are varied guidelines on how students are advised to follow A/L streams based on their GCE Ordinary Level exam results, the fee rates for subjects such as Biology, Combined Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry are also higher in comparison to subjects in the Arts stream. 

An A/L tuition teacher who conducts classes in the Arts stream told The Sunday Morning that a typical class for an Arts student costs between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000 a month depending on whether it is only for theory or is supplemented by a revision class as well. 

Revision classes, typically aimed at students who sit for exams on their second attempt, are conducted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

When asked about the reasons behind this disparity, All-Island Professional Lecturers’ Association (APLA) National Organiser Madhuka N. Weerasinghe told The Sunday Morning that classes in the Science streams tended to go on for longer and involve more printed notes due to the intensity of the subjects. 

“Typically, a Science class goes on for about four hours, whereas an Arts class would be around 1.5 hours. Since the subject is more complex, the students are provided with more things, like tutes.”

However, he denied ‘a large disparity’ in fees and said that most Science stream classes cost less than Rs. 5,000. 

Pricing of classes 

It was observed that there are no standard formulas being followed when pricing classes and that it remains largely at the discretion of the teacher. One prominent educational institution in Colombo said that the rates were determined by teachers as they paid a percentage to the institution as a cut. 

The A/L Arts stream tuition teacher said that typically, about 25% of the class fee of a student went to the institution. However, he noted that not all institutions had the same facilities. 

“Institutes take about 25%. Generally, this is an agreement arrived at by the institution and the teacher. But not all facilities, like AC, are available in all institutes.”

When asked about difficulties faced by students in affording class fees, the teacher said that there were about seven students in every class of 100 who would request free class passes due to financial difficulties.

According to him, students who face economic hardships that affect their ability to afford classes have been informed to meet him accompanied by a parent to discuss their difficulties and obtain a free pass. 

While noting that prices of classes did increase following the pandemic, he claimed that teachers had not increased their class fees drastically. He added that students were purchasing their passes on time and attending classes, without a noticeable decline in attendance. 

“After Covid-19, everything became expensive, but teachers tried to not increase fees drastically. Most classes only increased their prices by about Rs. 100,” he added.

According to APLA National Organiser Weerasinghe, a system of regulating tuition fees does not exist at present. 

Covid-19 also brought about considerable diversification, and as a result, there are now classes being conducted in different formats, including online classes, mass classes/hall classes, and group classes. Weerasinghe said that fees were also determined depending upon the mode of delivery.

“Fees are decided by teachers and the APLA does not intervene in such matters. However, if concerns are raised, we can take them up for discussion. So far, no such issue has come up,” he said.

The APLA is an organisation of tuition teachers islandwide under whose umbrella area-based sister associations have been formed. There remains no system that regulates fees in the tuition sector beyond market forces. 

Reform needs

Regulating fees or any other matter relevant to the private tuition sector would mean that it becomes formally recognised, said Ceylon Teachers’ Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin.

“The private tuition industry has created an idea that their classes are essential to pass A/Ls and that school is unnecessary. This has begun affecting the Ordinary Level exam as well,” he added.

According to him, parents are compelled to carry a significant burden from which they have to be released “immediately”. While acknowledging that the Ministry of Education has expressed the need to ‘transform’ the education system, he said that the required reforms were not taking place soon enough.

Earlier, The Sunday Morning reported that the Ministry of Education’s recent plans were to reform the education sector away from an examination-oriented system, whereby authorities felt that the tuition industry would become obsolete if reforms were implemented effectively. The reforms are planned to come into effect early next year from the level of primary school education.