Private tutoring has engrossed much attention in Sri Lanka with the growing demand to meet the competitive education needs. This study brings together data collected via questionnaires from parents and students selected schools in four district of Sri Lanka and analyses the factors which determine the demand of private tutoring. The results found that the private tutoring is mainly determined by socio-demographic and economic characteristics of the student and household, such as student’s academic achievement level, intellectual behavior, parent’s level of education, household expenditure level, parent’s satisfaction of the school, parent teacher connectedness and parenting level, leisure choice. Results mainly implies that parents practice their academic and economic power to bypass the weaknesses of the current formal education system in the country creating a number of distortions resulting a huge resource waste and widening the inequality in education. The outcome of this study is useful in improving the formal education system in Sri Lanka.
Keywords: Determinants, Private tutoring, Sri Lanka
