This paper presents empirical evidence on kindergarten admission preparation services in Hong Kong. Parents increasingly turn to tutoring companies for a range of services, such as social skills training, portfolio editing, mock interviews, and parental consultation. We used qualitative methods to capture the views of parents, teachers, tutors,…

With the upsurge of private schools, parents are struggling with a variety of schooling options. Given the exclusionary nature of privatisation, the market has led to the reproduction of social inequality amidst a plurality of choice. By mapping the school choice process, the article aims to explore school choice in the varied socio-economic…

Purpose: Focusing on the hot-debating issue of school choice in China, this article aims to present a narrative of the policy interventions, especially promulgated by the Chinese central government during the past 20 years, and to discuss those challenges facing the governments and the society as a whole in the new era. Design/Approach/Methods:…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of household education expenditure on National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) performance in China. Using a comprehensive dataset with a sample size of 5840 students collected in Jinan, China, this study found that the average effect of household education expenditure on NCEE performance is not…

With its shift to a market economy gathering speed from the 1990s, the Chinese Government embarked on an agenda that brought neoliberal forces into almost all sectors including education. The policies underpinned China's spectacular economic growth, but in education have had consequences that arguably are problematic. Drawing on a mixed-methods…

This paper explores the social justice implications of two, "linked", governance developments which have been instrumental in reshaping many education systems throughout the world: the "privatising" and "globalising" of education (Klees, Stromquist, & Samoff, 2012). We argue that such education governance…

Background: In contrast to the top-down government-designated school choice programmes in many countries, e.g. in the UK and USA in particular, school choice in the Chinese context is a bottom-up movement initiated by parents and is characterised by the payment of a substantial "choice fee" to the preferred school, and by competition by…

This article links the demand for private tutoring to mounting desires for school choice. The number of private tutoring businesses is rapidly growing in Canada, even though its educational system lacks characteristics that spark a demand for those services in other countries. Testing ideas derived from the school choice literature, I examine…

This paper describes a study that examined the demand for tutoring within a context of heightened credential competition and a growing private-education sector consisting of private schools, charter schools, homeschoolers, and a burgeoning entrepreneurial education industry. The number of private-tutoring businesses is rapidly growing in Canada,…