Mushrooming of coaching centres

Dr Jyoti Sharma
In a lane near Prade, Jammu, there are number of tutorials. Walls are filled with advertisements. Even newspapers, magazines or roads  remain filled with advertisements like you can ‘learn English in 30 days’ or ‘score 90% in Boards with our guidance’ or ‘clear PMT/IIT with our two year package’. More and more students are flocking to these centers as an alternative or supplement to school teaching. In researching for this article, I spent hours patiently waiting in front of them and watching boys and girls coming and going till late evenings. A bulk of them came from rural or semi urban areas. I observed that Private tuitions which were a privilege of upper and middle classes during the seventies is now a regular part of lives for over 80% of urban students, even at primary level. In my lane, there are no less than a hundred billboards. Meritorious and rank-holders interviews are published in magazines and newspaper under the heads what toppers say giving credit of their success to their tuition classes. Moreover the mushrooming of coachng centres all over the cities big or small, metros or districts highlight the growing trend of students opting for coaching classes apart from the regular curriculum. Once upon a time coaching was a rare phenomenon, generally unheard of and only taken by those who were weak in their studies. But now it is a way of life for students, aggressively promoted by the teachers and to some extent by the parents also. But does coaching really help in scoring good marks in school or in competitive examinations? Is it advisable for the school students to opt for coaching? When is the right time to join coaching? Does it take away time of self-study and make student dependent on coaching centre? Or does it give your career the right boost and direction ?
These are some of the questions which every student and their parents face. The craze for coaching has let to opening of coaching centres in every by lane selling dreams of guaranteed success. Many experts believe  that education is a natural process of learning. For the regular and attentive students coaching is not really required till class twelth.
However for professional courses like entrance examinations of CPMT and IIT professional guidance is required in today’s competitive  world. A student has no background and idea of the examination  he is appearing for. He or she needs proper study material and guidelines on the important topics, exam patterns, and short-cut methods of solving numerical and analytical questions. It is here when the coaching centers play an important role in helping students. They plan each topic methodically and time schedules to complete the modules. The students feel that the tutors know what the important and less important topics are.
There are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration before selecting a coaching centre. The quality, experience and expertise of the teachers should be the top priority. One should also talk to other students before taking admission. The standard of coaching can best  analyzed by the success rate and academic performance of the students studying there. Whether to join a coaching or not is an individual’s decision. If a student is sincere and hardworking with good grasping power he or she can prepare for competitive exams even at home. But if professional help is required then select the coaching centre which offers the best options. I can quote here my own example. I qualified my KAS prelims and mains exam without coaching but for interview I go for coaching as it provided me the idea about the atmosphere in front of the panel by way of mock tests. So here is the need to understand the need of coaching/guidance in real sense not as trend, or merely the blind followers of others. It is suggested to parents and teachers try to realize that whether the child or stuents actually need such guidance in such coaching centers.
Why then tuition classes are so popular?
Firstly, parents cannot help in doing the homework due to their limitations. Secondly, crowd mentality: since my neighbour, friend, classmate goes, I must go too. Thirdly, teachers hold back their best at school and give their best at the tutorials. Fourthly, tutorials focus on practice problems, guess questions and mock examinations unlike regular schools, which focus on concepts and theory. Fifthly, tutorials conduct screening tests, enroll already brighter students and keep weaker students out. Their screeding tests ensure greater homogeneity in the class and makes coaching task easier for teachers. Sixthly, their success is due to the education system that awards a certificate based on marks scored in final board examinations held under external assessment and vigilance procedures. The perceptions of parents about competition are also to be blamed. The parents are stressed unnecessarily about competition in modern day life. Their anxiety to settle their children in happier and prosperous lives than their own explains the pressures they bring upon themselves and their children. This behaviour is viral; parents compete with their neighbours. In that race, the benefits go to coaching centers. Many regular teachers sign up with tutorials to teach  after school hours, thus trapping themselves with vested interest in the success of an institute other than the regular school. This nexus between teachers and coaching centers should be broken by combined might of law, student council action, parental watch-dog bodies and social activists.
(The author is Assistant Director (P&S)

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