New Delhi: From setting a lower age limit of 16 for students who enrol in coaching institutes to mandating that such centres have adequate infrastructure, meet fire safety standards and have trained counsellors to look after the students’ mental health — the education ministry’s new guidelines attempt to address a host of concerns about the largely unregulated coaching industry.
Issued on 16 January, the guidelines — which also deal with issues such as fee structure and tutors’ qualifications — apply only to offline coaching centres. Such institutes will face penalties and revocation of their registrations if they don’t comply.
The guidelines are expected to have a significant impact on the coaching industry, which is worth over Rs 58,000 crore, as well as on the students, parents, and tutors involved in it. According to officials, this framework will help control the unchecked expansion of private coaching centres.
“The issues related to the private coaching centres, more so in the context of rising student suicide cases, fire incidents, lack of facilities as well as methodologies of teaching have been engaging the attention of the government from time to time,” read the government advisory.
The new guidelines also say that if a coaching centre has more than one branch, each branch must be registered independently: “In case of a coaching centre having multiple branches, each of such branches shall be treated as a separate coaching centre and it shall be necessary to submit a separate application for registration of each branch.”
B. Singh, the founder of Next IAS, as well as parents and the industry experts ThePrint spoke to, appreciated the government’s initiative to issue guidelines for the coaching industry, but also raised some concerns, including the impact on fees and online coaching institutes.
According to Singh, registration of a separate unit will be difficult because Delhi is a city with infrastructure resource constraints. “This means there would be multiple registrations required. This may introduce corrupt practices as getting registration would not be so easy,” he said.
The cost of complying with the new guidelines isn’t clear, and some worry that this could lead to hikes in fees for students — despite the guidelines prohibiting excessive fees.
“Every time we saw the news about any student suicide, we used to worry a lot. These guidelines will be helpful for the mental health of the students, but if the fees increase, then it will be a problem for middle-class people like us,” said Satish Kumar, whose son is taking NEET coaching in Delhi.
A source in the coaching industry said, “The intent of these guidelines is good. However, some of the concerns have not been addressed. First of all, the compliance cost remains ambiguous. Also, it is not clear if the government will provide any support to the coaching institutes to improve any services or not.”
ThePrint examines the key features of the guidelines issued by the ministry.
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‘No enrolment under 16’
While the age limit under the guidelines is 16, it’s also specified that students can only enrol after their secondary school examinations — which means those in classes 11 and 12, the main target group for JEE and NEET coaching centres, may no longer be eligible for coaching. Moreover, the guidelines say that coaching timings should not clash with school timings.
They also say, “No coaching centre shall engage tutors having qualifications less than graduation. The institutions cannot make misleading promises or guarantee rank or good marks to parents for enrolling students in the coaching centres.”
According to Atul Kumar, a doctor who took coaching for NEET, the new guidelines could bring some change.
“These children go out of their houses at a very young age and jump into this competitive pool. Some of them drop the year after completing class 12th, but many continue both. After these guidelines, we could see some change. But competition is high and people will find some other way to run their business,” he told ThePrint.
However, the guidelines are for offline coaching only. “There are courses available for Rs 5,000-6,000 online. I don’t think there is anything for them,” Kumar said.
Singh also said that there was no clarity on online coaching centres and whether they could be run during school hours or not. “In case these guidelines are only for offline coaching, then I believe that there should be clarity. And what about those who run hybrid courses?”
Fee structure and malpractice
The new guidelines also address the issue of malpractice by coaching institutes, saying that they can be fined up to Rs 1 lakh or have their registrations revoked for any violations.
It’s specified that the centres can’t employ any instructor with a history of convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude.
The guidelines prohibit the institutes from making false or misleading claims about the quality of coaching, the facilities, or the results attained by their students.
“The coaching institutes cannot publish or cause to be published or take part in the publication of any misleading advertisement relating to any claim, directly or indirectly, of quality of coaching or the facilities offered therein or the result procured by such coaching centre or the student who attended such class,” read the advisory.
Last year in September, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) also issued notices to coaching institutes for false advertisement and penalties.
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Infrastructure, safety measures & student welfare
The guidelines also say that the coaching institutes should provide adequate space — allocating a minimum of 1 square metre to each student in a class — and infrastructure, and ensure safety measures are in place. The coaching centre building should adhere to fire safety codes, building safety codes, and other standards and should obtain a Fire and Building Safety Certificate from the appropriate authorities.
This comes after fires have been reported at several such coaching centres. Last year, a fire at an institute Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar saw students using electric wire and jumping from the windows to save themselves.
“I was nearby when the fire started in Mukherjee Nagar’s institute. Many coaching centres here don’t fulfill these criteria and there is a big risk. We will have to see what will change now. Hundreds of students sit in small halls together to study in many institutes,” Shyam Sharma, a UPSC aspirant who lives in Mukherjee Nagar, told ThePrint.
In 2019, a fire at an institute in Surat had caused the deaths of 22 students.
The guidelines also emphasise that institutes should ensure their students’ mental health by not putting too much academic pressure on them, and call for a mechanism “to provide targeted and sustained assistance to students in distress and stressful situations”.
This would involve the appointment of trained counsellors. “Information about the names of psychologists, counsellors and the time they render services may be given to all students and parents,” say the guidelines.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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