Shadow Education in Africa: Private Supplementary Tutoring and its Policy Implications by Mark Bray

Abstract

Mark Bray’s book (2021), Shadow Education in Africa: Private Supplementary Tutoring and its Policy Implications, is the first of its kind. Most often researched in Asia, a comprehensive look at shadow education in Africa is unique (Bray, 2021, p.viii). On a continent where educational development has taken many forms, Bray draws attention to the educational opportunities privileged students in Africa have access to through for-profit tutoring. His analysis draws on the same aspects of African education that pose challenges to educational development in general, such as an unqualified teaching force, unsatisfactory compensation for teachers, assessments, and the rural and urban divide among student achievement. Bray’s book is a warning for what could become of African education with increased shadow education, and a guide on how to combat it with policy recommendations that expand the best practices found already in place in some countries.