Citation:

Indal Kumar. "From Decline to Re-emergence: State-Level Dynamics of Private Tutoring in India" International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies, Vol. 4, No. 9, pp. 170-183, 2025. Crossref. http://doi.org/10.56472/25835238/IRJEMS-V4I9P119

Abstract:

The private tutoring phenomenon has re-surged from a decline in 2017-18 in India. Its prevalence was 26 percent in 2014; after a modest decline, it increased to 27 percent in 2025 at the school level in India. More importantly, it has increased in eastern states, which already witnessed a high prevalence of private tutoring. Although its prevalence has not increased significantly from the 2014 level, its economic cost has surged substantially, as reflected in average tutoring expenditure and the economic burden. Furthermore, the structure of the tutoring market has remained relatively unchanged over time. The high value of the rank correlation coefficient indicates that the relative position of states has remained stable over time in terms of the attributes of private tutoring. However, a moderate value of the coefficient of variation indicates the existence of structural inequalities in private tutoring phenomena across states in India. Though we witness some anomalies, the variation slightly declined over a decade. Furthermore, the variation is more drastic in prevalence, moderate in tutoring expenditure, and low in economic burden; the Rural region shows more variation than its urban counterpart in all attributes of private tutoring in India. The increasing economic burden is a concern for poorer states. A complete ban on private tutoring is not a viable solution, as it incurs a monitoring cost and may not be effective. The governments may provide targeted vouchers or cash transfers to students belonging to marginalised sections of society so that they are not left behind in the journey of educational mobility.

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Keywords:

Private Tutoring, Private Tutoring Expenditure, Economic Burden Of Private Tutoring, Rank Correlation, Coefficient of Variation, India.