The Union Education Ministry has issued a set of new guidelines for coaching centres, under which it has said the study centres cannot enrol students below 16 years of age, make misleading promises and guarantee rank or good marks.
Citing cases of rising student suicides, exorbitant high fees at the study centres and mental pressure, the Higher Education department has brought out detailed guidelines to be followed by coaching centres across the country.
Experts and those in favour of coaching centres learning say some guidelines were needed.
Here are the guidelines:
Conditions for Registration of coaching centres
> They cannot engage tutors having qualification less than graduation.
> Cannot make misleading promises or guarantee of rank or good marks to parents/students for enrolling them in the coaching center.
> Cannot enrol student below 16 years of age or students can be enrolled only after secondary school examination.
> Cannot 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 center or the student who attended such class.
> Should be registered, if it has less than minimum space requirement per student.
> The coaching center shall have a website with updated details of the qualification of tutors, courses/curriculum, duration of completion, hostel facilities (if any), and the fees being charged, easy exit policy, fee refund policy, number of students undertaken coaching from the centre and number of students finally succeeded in getting admission in Higher Education Institutions
> Coaching classes shall not be conducted during their institutions / schools’ hours.
Fee Structure
> The prospectus, notes and other material shall be supplied by the coaching center to their enrolled students without any separate fees thereof.
> If the student has paid for the course in full and is leaving the course in the middle of the prescribed period, student will be refunded from out of the fees deposited earlier for the remaining period, on pro-rata basis within 10 days.
> If the student is staying in the hostel of the coaching center, then the hostel fees and mess fee etc. will also be refunded.
> Can't increase fees on the basis of which enrolment has been made for a particular course and duration shall be increased during the the course.
Infrastructure Requirements
> Within the basic structure of the coaching center, a minimum one square meter area may be allocated for each student during a class / batch. There shall be sufficient infrastructure in proportion to the number of students enrolled.
> The coaching center building shall adhere to fire safety codes, building safety codes and other standards and shall obtain a Fire and Building Safety Certificate from the appropriate authorities as decided by appropriate government.
> For the assistance of the students, coaching center shall have first aid kit and medical assistance/ treatment facility.
> A list of referral services like hospitals, doctors for emergency services, police helpline details, fire service helpline, women's helpline etc. shall be displayed and the students shall be informed about them.
> The coaching center building shall be fully electrified, well ventilated, and sufficient lighting arrangements shall be made in each classroom of the building.
> Safe and potable drinking water shall be available for all students and staffs of the Center.
> Coaching centre should have CCTV cameras wherever required and security shall be well maintained.
> Provision of separate toilets for males and females shall be made within the coaching center building premises.
Weekly offs
> Coaching classes must not impact school attendance
> There shall be no assessment-test / exam on the day after weekly off.
> During the important and popular festivals in the respective region, coaching center shall customize leave in such a manner that the students are able to connect with their family and get emotional boosting.
Timings
> Coaching centres cannot take classes for more than 5 hours in a day and the coaching hours should neither be too early in the morning nor too late in the evening.
> Apart from options for admission in engineering and medical institutes, information about other career options may be provided to the students, so that they do not get stressed about their future and can choose a new option of alternative careers.
No false promises
> The students and parents shall be made aware that admission in the coaching center is no way guarantee of success for admission in institutions like medical, engineering, management, law etc. or in the competitive examination.
Mental health
> Coaching centres should conduct periodic workshops and sensitization sessions regarding students’ mental health in collaboration with mental health professionals.
> Coaching centres should create awareness amongst students and parents regarding the pedagogy, the timeline of the course, and the facilities available in the coaching center. They may be counselled about negative impacts of unnecessary mental pressure and burden of expectation on their children.
Assessment tests results
> Coaching center shall not make public the result of assessment test conducted by it. Keeping the assessment test confidential, it should be used for regular analysis of performance of students and the student whose education performance is deteriorating, should be provided counselling as per the provisions of this guidelines.
> Coaching centers are encouraged to involve counselors and experienced psychologists to counsel and provide psychotherapeutic service to students for the resolution of mental stress and depression.
> Coaching center shall be conducting coaching only at the place indicated in the registration certificate and shall not be shifted to any other place than its registered place, without the prior written approval of the Competent Authority in that behalf.
Penalties
In case of violation of any of the terms and conditions of registration or general conditions, the coaching center shall be liable for penalties as follows:
(i) Rs 25,000/- for first offence (ii) Rs. 1,00,000/- for the second offence (iii) revocation of registration for subsequent offence
“It is commendable that the government has considered registering coaching centers, but the rules and regulations they have introduced are such that only a small percentage of coaching centers in India would be able to comply with them. The enrollment of students in coaching centers is constantly changing, as students leave after completing their courses. Therefore, determining an exact figure of 50 students becomes difficult.” Said Keshav Agarwal, President Educators Society, Delhi.
“The draft fails to address online classes, which many students opt for. It is unclear how online students would be governed, and whether the limit of 50 students includes online students or not. While Some students choose open schooling and prepare for exams while attending classes in the morning. Restricting their ability to study in the morning infringes upon their rights under Article 14, 19, and 21. The same applies to students who drop a year to prepare for exams, as there is no limit on the number of attempts in medical exams,” he said.
Also read: IIT-Madras suspends professor over PhD scholar’s suicide