The decision came at the backdrop of series of suicides committed by students in Rajasthan’s Kota who were preparing for competitive tests such as NEET and JEE. The new guidelines also restrict private coaching centres from giving any overtly glorified assurances to the students. The Union ministry has notified the State governments about the new guidelines but they are not implemented yet. While the parents seem to have welcomed the move, majority of the private coaching centres expectedly expressed their displeasure. Given the billions of turnover involved in the business of coaching classes, the displeasure is obvious. In many rural and urban areas, the school teachers themselves run such private classes at their homes after their day-shift at schools.
The ecosystem of private coaching centres has made people believe in the narrative that if students do not lay the foundation of competitive examinations by Grade 9 or 10, they fall behind. Such narratives are dangerous as they demotivate students who financially cannot afford such classes. It is agreeable that those who want to score high in competitive tests of JEE and NEET have to strengthen their base by the time they reach Grade 10, but there are parents who force their children in the cut-throat competition when they are barely in Grade 5. Unfortunately, our education system has stagnated to a point where nothing is taught to students apart from the material required for examinations. Most teachers do not dive deep enough to explain all the facets and angles of a concept to their students.
Many a times students who are not really interested in studying medicine is forced into attending coaching classes at a very early age in order to prepare themselves for future admissions in future. Since most of the Indian parents still want their children to be either doctors or engineers, many kids are forced to join private tuitions against their will. This leads children not only into depression but also into a state of extreme confusion when they reach the phase of adolescence. They find themselves in a panic situation where they are unable to decide for themself.
The system of private coaching classes does more harm than good. While it is true that preparation for competitive tests improves the knowledge of the students when done in a balanced way, lakhs of students take admission in private coaching centres as teachers in education institutes do not pay enough attention. That is a harsh truth, which is why the parallel system of private coaching is thriving. There are more private coaching centres in Kota, Rajasthan than colleges and universities. Since the fees of these centres are exorbitant, students are constantly under pressure of not disappointing their parents. Sadly, this is what leads to students committing suicides.
Many education experts have expressed the need for public awareness regarding the extreme stress most of the students go through. There is a need for us as a society to emotionally support students instead of mounting unnecessary pressure on them. The system will not change by merely bringing in new guidelines for appointing counsellors in schools.
Parents need to be more connected with their children inorder to sense their need for emotional support at various stages of their life. Parents need to get rid of their insecurity that their child will suffer if they do not become doctors or engineers. Infact, parents need to be counselled out of such dangerous narratives. It is not possible for the parallel system of coaching classes to suddenly cease when the education sector has been heavily privatised, but these centres need to follow the required guidelines. The managements of such centres need to alert the parents and students that their admissions to coaching classes does not guarantee them admission into their desired institutes. A majority of the centres do not follow morals and ethics while advertising themselves. Parents fall prey to these advertisements without taking into consideration the capacity of their child. Hopefully, the new guidelines will bring some practical change in the way parents, students and coaching centres approach education.
