Buying your way into higher education? unpacking the association between fee-charging private tutoring and educational inequality in Kazakhstan

Baikenov K. Hajar A.
2025 Springer Science and Business Media B.V.

Asia Pacific Education Review
2025

This mixed-methods study examines the nature, perceived effectiveness, and equity implications of fee-charging private tutoring among first-year university students in Kazakhstan. Informed by Entrich’s (2018) multidimensional model of educational inequality, the study combines quantitative data from a survey of 493 students with qualitative insights from 21 individual semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal that 67.5% of participants engaged in private tutoring during the 12 months preceding university admission, indicating that tutoring remains a routine and strategic response to the demands of high-stakes entrance examinations, particularly the Unified National Testing (UNT). While most students perceived tutoring as academically beneficial, access to high-quality provision was shaped by structural factors, including family income, parental education, and place of residence. The study also finds that 32.4% of respondents participated in online tutoring, which gained traction in the post-pandemic period but raised concerns about quality control, misleading advertising, and the absence of tutor credential verification. Although students acknowledged the necessity of tutoring in the current admissions landscape, they supported state regulation to ensure transparency, affordability, and quality assurance. The study concludes by urging policymakers to implement regulatory reforms to mitigate the stratifying effects of shadow education and promote more equitable access to higher education opportunities in Kazakhstan.

Educational inequality , Fee-based private tutoring , Kazakhstan , Shadow education , University admission

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Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Graduate School of Education

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