Socio-economic Factors Affecting Monthly Household Expenditure on Tuition for Advanced Level Students in Embilipitiya Educational Zone in Sri Lanka

School education as well as university education (up to undergraduate level) is mostly government-owned and free in Sri Lanka. However, the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (G.C.E A/L) Examination has become a huge challenge for students as this is the only eligibility criterion for university entrance which is extremely competitive. Consequently, parents increasingly spend on getting private tuition for their children. This study investigates the socio-economic factors affecting monthly household expenditure on A/L students’ tuition. A stratified random sample of 200 out of 1160 students who sat for the A/L examination in 2019 in each subject stream: Arts, Biological Science, Commerce, Physical Science, and Technology in Embilipitiya educational zone of Rathnapura district in Sri Lanka was selected for the study. Based on the current literature and the Sri Lankan context related to the area of research, 11 factors were identified as the potential determinants of monthly tuition expenditure of Advanced Level students. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The multiple linear regression analysis performed in the study revealed that household income, total tuition hours, type of class, and subject stream are the major factors determining the monthly expenditure on private tuition classes. The finalized regression model including the above factors explains more than 71% of the variation in monthly tuition expenditure. Furthermore, the highest and the lowest median monthly tuition expenditures were observed for the students from Physical Science and Arts streams respectively. The findings of this research provide important insights to educators and policymakers while extending the limited current knowledge on private tuition in Sri Lanka.