The new set of guidelines introduced by the Education Ministry have laid bare the absence of a legal framework to regulate coaching centres in the State.
Introduced to eliminate a “coaching culture”, the guidelines seek to rein in unregulated private coaching centres, some of which have been found to engage in malpractices, including charging exorbitant fees and subjecting students to undue stress leading to suicides.
In the absence of a national law, the Centre has deemed it best for such institutions to be regulated by States and Union Territories since Plus 2-level education comes under the purview of the respective government.
Crediting States, including Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Manipur and Rajasthan, for enacting appropriate laws to regular private coaching and tuition classes, the Education Ministry has urged the others to follow suit.
An administrator of a coaching centre, who requested anonymity, points out such institutes only require licences issued by the respective panchayati raj institution and register as a private limited company to set up shop in the State. However, the lack of rules to oversee their functioning has left students vulnerable to undue pressure.
Foundation courses
The norms also prohibit coaching centres from enrolling students below 16 years or those who have not completed secondary school examinations (Class 10). This is bound to bring an end to foundation courses being offered for students of Classes 6 to 10.
Rough estimates indicate around 5,000 students pursuing such courses in various parts of the State. Coaching centres have been offering online classes and curated content in science and mathematics for the benefit of students from far-off places.
George Thomas, director of Brilliant Study Centre, Pala, welcomed the guidelines which, he says, will bring students across the country on an equal footing.
Besides, the institutes in Kerala will be less impacted than those in coaching hubs such as Kota and Hyderabad. Unlike certain other places where school education has been playing second fiddle to coaching classes, the student community in the State continued to provide priority to the school-level board examinations.
He says foundation courses began to find many takers during the last decade as it provided an added advantage in school-level examinations as well as competitive tests such as olympiads.
Amruth G. Kumar, Dean (Academics) and Professor of Education at the Central University of Kerala, says such programmes have fuelled a rat race robbing students of their childhood.
“Only a miniscule proportion of students have managed to sustain the drive to perform well in senior secondary school and entrance examinations. Sadly, the excessive consumption of online content and the growing attention deficit have created an aversion among large sections,” he says.
He also deems it illogical to confine students’ career choices by “imposing” science-based foundational courses on students without understanding individual choices and aptitude at a young age.
