Shadow education, enabler or barrier: insights from Malaysian secondary school students

Shadow education (SE) or supplementary private tutoring research has gained significant traction in the past two decades. With extensive implications of SE on the ecology of education and academic performance, this study investigates Malaysian secondary school students' views on SE and its perceived impact on their academic performance. Eight focus groups with four schools (n = 47) were conducted with students (n = 24) who used SE and those who did not (n = 23) for a more holistic perspective. Findings revealed that all students perceived SE as beneficial for achieving improved academic performance. SE users found SE enhances their mainstream schooling performance. Nonetheless, they reported negative lifestyle impacts due to time demands. Furthermore, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds reported that they felt educationally disadvantaged by not having access to SE due to its cost. We conclude that the inequality of opportunities requires policy responses to SE for regulation purposes in the Malaysian setting.