Abstract
Using the 2KJ1 panel data of Taiwan Youth Project, this chapter first presents a profile of cram schooling in Taiwan. It detects a high attendance rate in the junior high stage for our student sample admitted to the academic track in the senior high stage. In the senior secondary stage, students in the most prestigious senior highs had the highest attendance rate. There was also an intensification pattern of cram schooling from the first to the third year in both junior and senior secondary stages in terms of the number of subjects taken and hours and cost spent in cram schooling. In general, cram schooling has been highly oriented toward the competition for better schools of higher levels. Second, we regard cram schooling as a family strategy related to students’ family SES, urbanization level, and SES of their residential setting and their academic performance. We explore the implications of cram schooling in contrast with after-school class attendance within junior high and their effect on the outcome in the entrance examination for senior secondary educational institutions. Cram schooling is indeed a more effective measure than after-school classes and a strategy for the strong to be stronger. It perhaps maintains or even exacerbates social inequality. After-school classes seem to be less efficacious but are more a strategy for lower SES families to pursue a better outcome of their children in academic competition.
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- 1.
Before 1968 when only elementary education was obligatory, there were permitted after-school classes immediately after regular school hours, preparing pupils for junior high entrance examinations. In addition, some teachers offered tutoring classes outside of school at night. The practice, generally an urban phenomenon, was regarded as illegal and bad (named “unhealthy cram sessions”) and was viewed as something to be eliminated. Cram schools for junior high students were rare. In my memory, in my hometown, a county seat, there was only one such cram school in the early 1960s. At that time, there were a number of cram schools in large cities, which mainly recruited students who failed in the entrance examination for colleges and universities.
- 2.
Since the 1960s, the number of double-income families has increased substantially in Taiwan, and the after-school care of primary school pupils has been an increasingly important concern of parents. Therefore, there have emerged various after-school care institutions, many of which are commercial ones, though some are offered by nonprofit organizations or by primary schools. Their main function is child care, but they also provide homework guidance. Most commercial after-school care institutions attract their clients by the reputation for good guidance related to school courses and offering extracurricular activities. They in part are also a kind of cram school (Lee 2003; Liu 2006b).
- 3.
Before 2001, junior high students took the entrance examination for senior high schools in July. They listed the prospective senior high schools in the application form for the examination and were assigned to a school based on the outcome score. In 2002, the Senior High School and Vocational School Multi-Opportunity Program was established. All junior high students took the test in spring first. They then enrolled in a school through recommendation or application. Those who were not admitted might take the second test in July. They then listed the prospective schools to which they aspired and were assigned to a school based on the score from either the first or the second test. Our J1 was the first cohort taking part in the program, which has had some revisions afterward.
- 4.
In 2001, the lowest 20% group’s average disposable income was NT$279,404, and for the second 20%, it was NT$524,766. Accordingly, if our J1 students attended cram schools, the cost was about 13.6 and 7.4% of average disposable income, respectively. In 2002, the lowest 20% group had an average disposable income NT$292,113, while the second 20% group had NT$538,584. The cost of cram schooling was about 16% of the average disposable income for the former and 8.5% for the latter.
- 5.
Before 2002, the entrance examination for colleges was held on the 1st to 3rd of July each year.
- 6.
In 2005, “civic and social studies” was added. Some departments in the first category may require a score on this area from their applicants.
- 7.
The majority of our J1 sample students took the GSAT and the DRT in 2002.
- 8.
The tuition per year in 2000, 2001, and 2002 was NT$52,450, NT$54,862, and NT$57,368, respectively, for private high schools and NT$15,700, NT$17,670, and NT$19,888 for public high schools in Taiwan (Lee 2001).
- 9.
In all tables in this section, we conduct a chi-square test for each independent variable with cram school attendance and after-school class attendance. Only the association between student’s academic ranking and after-school attendance is not statistically significant at the.05 level.
- 10.
Due to a substantial number of our respondents offering no information on after-school classes, we construct a dummy of “missing in reporting after-school class attendance.” This makes a larger sample in our analysis. However, we do not discuss the results on “missing.”
- 11.
It has been quite common to offer after-school classes in junior highs. In the senior secondary stage, only some private senior highs ask students to attend after-school classes arranged by the school.
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Chang, YH. (2012). Academic Competition and Cram Schooling. In: Yi, CC. (eds) The Psychological Well-being of East Asian Youth. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4081-5_7
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