Pozaszkolna pomoc w nauce
Out-of-school help in learning

Summary/Abstract: Private tutoring, a paid form of out-of-school learning assistance, is a topic of extended public discussion, in which it is considered rife and blamed for widening educational inequality. It is assumed in the debate that private tutoring fosters greater school achievement, which is reflected in better examination scores and increased chances for admission to top secondary schools and universities. However, the debate is based mainly on opinions and ignores similar but less controversial phenomena, e.g., family help. The present article, inspired by the discussion, gathers empirical data on paid and non-paid out-of-school help in learning school subjects. It presents information on prevalence, probable causes and effects of both forms of out-of-school help. It also provides information on the characteristics of help-users. A psychological interpretation of out-of-school learning assistance is proposed. Moreover, the article aims at finding answers to selected concerns expressed by the general public.

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