Parentocracy within meritocracy: parental perspective on lecture-style English private tutoring in Hong Kong

The shift from meritocracy to parentocracy in contemporary societies has resulted a situation where children’s educational success increasingly depends on parents’ wealth and wishes rather than ability efforts. Better-off parents can afford extra learning activities increase competitive edge. This phenomenon is fuelled by ‘English fever’ many non-English-speaking contexts, driving subscribe English private tutoring (EPT), or shadow education, for children. paper reports the findings larger year-long study lecture-style EPT involving Hong Kong secondary students their parents, schoolteachers tutors. With focus parental perspective, it expands notion of with qualitative empirical evidence 14 parents. unveil complex, ambivalent contradictory attitudes toward EPT. These played supporting dominant role education at senior stage. Despite aspirations children, they did not have high expectations returns ‘investment’ because believed ultimately depended own reveals subordinating meritocratic curriculum academic largely determined results high-stakes examinations.