Indian coaching centres prohibited from enrolling students below 16 years

Coaching centres in India have been prohibited from enrolling students below the age of 16, according to new guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education on Thursday (Jan 18). The regulatory framework has been introduced to manage the unregulated growth of private coaching centres across the country.

Titled ‘Guidelines for Regulation of Coaching Center 2024’, the framework aims to enhance student supervisionand support for study programmes, competitive exams and academics.

"No coaching centre shallenroll students below 16 years of age or the student enrolment should be only after secondary school examination," read the notification.

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"The coaching centres shall not make misleading promises or guarantee of rank or good marks to parents/students for enrolling them in the coaching centre," it added.

For a long time, the government had been receiving complaints about the rising cases of student suicides, fire incidents and lack of facilities among other issues regarding the coaching centres. Often these institutes put additional pressure on studentsto balance school and coaching work which leads to cases of suicide.

Watch | Gravitas: 2 Students die by suicide in India's coaching district Kota

What other changes have been made?

The new guidelines also stated that no coaching centre shall engage tutors that have qualification less than graduation.

Owing to tough competition and academic pressure on students, coaching centres have also been instructed to take steps for the mental well-being of students andconduct classes without putting undue pressure on them.

"They should establish a mechanism for immediate intervention to provide targeted and sustained assistance to students in distress and stressful situations. The competent authority may take steps to ensure that a counselling system is developed by the coaching centre and is easily available for the students and parents," read the statement b y the Ministry of Education.

As for the tuition fee, the guidelines state that coaching centres levy a reasonable fee by providing detailed receipts.

"The coaching centre must issue a prospectus mentioning the different courses/curriculum, their duration of completion, number of classes, lectures, tutorials, hostel facilities (if any), and the fees being charged, easy exit policy, fee refund," the guidelines further stated.

However, some experts have criticised the move saying some predatory coaching centres will now turn into full-time schools to circumvent the legalities of the guidelines.

(With inputs from agencies)