‘No Students Under 16, No False Promises’: Centre’s SOPs for Coaching Centres

Coaching centres cannot enrol students below 16 years of age, and cannot make misleading promises of rank or marks.

Amid the increasing cases of student suicides, the Union Ministry of Education has proposed Guidelines for Regulation of Coaching Centre 2024 to bring coaching institutes under a legal framework and address the growing number of “unregulated centers.”

This comes as at least 29 students died by suicide in Kota in 2023 alone, the highest number of student suicides recorded in the city since 2015. 

Here’s everything you need to know.

The big points:

• Coaching centres cannot enrol students below 16 years of age, or students who have not yet qualified their secondary school examinations.

• Coaching institutes cannot make “misleading promises or guarantee of rank or good marks.”

• Only coaching institutes that have a “counselling system” in place can get registered.

• Coaching institutes cannot hire tutors who have “qualification less than graduation” or tutors who have been convicted of an offence “involving moral turpitude.”

• The tuition fee has to be “fair and responsible,” and the coaching cannot separately charge for prospectus, notes, or other study material. The fee cannot be increased in the middle of a session.

• If a student leaves the course in the middle, the proportionate fees for the coaching and the hostel has to be refunded within 10 days. 

• Coaching institutes have to apprise students about the educational and cultural environment of living there, the difficulty of the exam they’re preparing for, and conduct a mock test for admission. Coaching centres also have to inform students about alternative courses and career options.

• Institutes not following the guidelines can be penalised or face cancellation of their registration.

• The coaching institutes will have three months to get themselves registered once the guidelines come into effect. The state and UT governments will be monitoring them.

“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.”

Guidelines for Regulation of Coaching Centre 2024

Guidelines To Reduce the Pressure on Students

• For students who are also continuing their school along with the coaching, coaching classes cannot be held during their school hours. 

• Remedial classes to be held for students.

• A spaced out curriculum that doesn’t put pressure on students and allows them time to relax.

• Weekly offs for students and teachers.

• No tests/exams on the day after a weekly off.

• Leaves for festivals so that students can connect with their families.

• Not more than 5 hours of classes in a day.

• Classes can’t be held too early in the morning or too late in the evening.

• Coaching centres to organise co-curricular activities for holistic development of students.

• Coaching centres to organise counselling sessions for life skills and cognitive development.

• Coaching centres to not make the assessment results public.

Taking Notice of Students’ Mental Health

The Centre, also taking note of the students’ mental health, has made a whole set of guidelines for the same. 

The guidelines say that coaching institutes have to:

• conduct periodic workshops with mental health professionals

• establish immediate intervention mechanisms and peer support groups for students

• provide “targeted and sustained assistance to students in distress”

• keep students and parents informed about their counselling system, the names of counsellors, and the services they provide

• appoint trained counsellors and career counsellors to guide students

• not discriminate among students

The guidelines also strictly say, “Batch segregation on academic performance ground shall not be done, as it leads to excessive pressure on the students affecting their mental health. Batches should be formed in the order of entry / admission of students and the batch shall not be changed till completion of the course.”

Why were these guidelines needed? According to the Department of Higher Education,

“The number of unregulated private coaching centers in the country continues to grow in the absence of any laid down policy or regulation. Instances of such centers charging exorbitant fees from students, undue stress on students resulting in students committing suicides, loss of precious lives due to fire and other accidents, and many other malpractices being adopted by these centres are widely reported in the media.”

Have any infrastructural requirements been stated for the coaching institutes? Yes, the Centre has said that all coaching institutes need to have:

• First-aid/medical assistance/emergency kits

• Well ventilated classrooms with sufficient lighting

• Safe potable drinking water

• Washrooms for students

• CCTV cameras and security

• Complaint box for students and a method of redressal

• A healthy student-teacher ratio

• A healthy student-counsellor ratio

• Enough lighting for easy access for students to the blackboard/screen

• Disability-friendly and accessible infrastructure

Apart from this, the guidelines also say that coaching centres need to publish on their website the following details:

• Qualification of tutors

• Courses/curriculum

• Duration of completion

• Hostel facilities (if any)

• Fees being charged

• Easy exit policy

• Fee refund policy

• Number of students enrolled

• Number of students who got admission in higher education institutions