Launching a scathing attack on private coaching centres, Union HRD minister Prakash Javdekar said that teaching standards have sharply declined due to increasing reliance of students on such institutes. The minister also alleged that private coaching centres treat students as “slaves” under the pretext of training them for admission to premier institutions.
Speaking at the launch of the Smart India Hackathon 2018 in Pune, Javadekar said, ” It is a cause of worry … from Class VIII, students become slaves of these coaching institutes. They are being aught to only face competitive exams. The coaching institutes are promoting rote learning and not imparting actual knowledge.”
A survey by Assocham, the apex trade body of India, revealed that nearly 87% of primary and up to 95% higher secondary school students attend private coaching classes.
Earlier in February, the Supreme Court said that private coaching centres in the country need to be “regulated” as these cannot be “wiped out” and asked the Centre to ponder over framing guidelines.
Though Centre has not announced any formal plans on framing guidelines, Odisha became India’s first state to introduce a bill that aims to regulate coaching centres functioning in the state. Under the “Odisha Coaching Institutes Act 2017”, within one month all the coaching centres will have to register with respective district collectors’ office with a registration fee of Rs 5,000. The validity of registration will be three years.
Additionally, the private institutions will have to submit details such as strength, academic qualification and experience of teachers, quality of education and curriculum. The bill will also make it mandatory for the institutions to hire non-government teachers (with at least a graduation degree) or retired teachers.
