Coaching centre guidelines issued in Jan 2024 brushed under carpet
Education ministry’s clear-cut directives on infrastructure has no takers; municipal authorities hardly aware of such guidelines.
The Rau's IAS Study Circle coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar, where three students died due to waterlogging in an illegal basement cum library, merely reveals the tip of a large iceberg.
More to the point, it demonstrates how a serious government directive on running coaching centres is treated so casually in real-time.
In January 2024, the education ministry’s department of higher education came up with comprehensive 11-page guidelines for the regulation of coaching centres. The exercise was undertaken because ``issues related to the private coaching centers…in the context of rising student suicides cases, fire incidents, lack of facilities as well as methodologies of teaching have been engaging the attention of the Government from time to time.’’
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Noted its preface: ``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.’’
Despite such a candid appraisal, the application of these guidelines on ground remains non-existent to minimal.
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Says Mrityunjay Narayanan, president of the Coaching Federation of India, a national level consortium of major coaching institutions: ``This tragedy is by no means restricted to Delhi. It is a nationwide problem. Municipal authorities, who issue licences and no-objection certificates without verification; the owners who run these institutes and have not factored in the burgeoning demands, cramming too many in too little space. What was once a small tutoring circle is now a booming countrywide industry and all stakeholders must realize it.”
Just how big is this industry? In Narayanan’s estimate, there are 48,000 coaching institutes that are connected to the Coaching Federation and another 4,000, which are directly affiliated to his organisation. ``The total number of unaffiliated coaching institutes in India could run into a couple of millions and the state of some of them, particularly in the Tier 2 and 3 towns, are precarious,” he told this reporter.
While Delhi is the nucleus for such coaching centres in North India, many of these so-called institutes, which are run out of cramped buildings in residential neighbourhoods, are accused of routinely flouting safety norms. Authorities said the coaching centre where the three students perished, only had permission to use the basement as a storeroom and for parking, and that the library run in the basement was illegal. They also said that drains in the area had been clogged by silt, which caused water to overflow on the road.
Since the incident took place, authorities have sealed more than a dozen coaching centres in the west Delhi area for holding classes illegally in their basements.
But that is typically a knee-jerk reaction when a mishap takes place, followed by unwanted media attention. In more crowded north Delhi private colonies in Kingsway Camp, Model Town and Mukherjee Nagar, to name just three, existence is even more dense for desperate aspirants wanting to make something of life.
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A week ago, a coaching student had died after he was electrocuted at his residence in Model town. Several other students recalled an incident last year when a fire broke out at a UPSC coaching centre in Mukherjee Nagar. Videos showed students smashing windows and rappelling down the building using wires and ropes. Many of them sustained burn injuries and the Delhi High Court took suo moto cognizance, issuing notices to the fire department and the Delhi government, seeking a status report. Directions were issued to crack down on unsafe coaching centres.
Now, in the aftermath of the three drowning deaths, multiple pleas have been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking justice and accountability. One of them calls for the constitution of a high-level committee to investigate the incident, probe illegal commercial constructions, and compile a report on coaching institutes operating without adhering to standard norms.
“This writ petition is being filed in public interest under Article 226 of the Constitution to bring to the court’s notice the violation of Article 21 by the respondents, and to investigate the incidents at the coaching institute in Old Rajinder Nagar and other similar occurrences,” it stated.
The plea also emphasised that over 50% commercial buildings in Delhi operate illegally, many in residential areas, without proper clearances. It accused corrupt officers of allowing this illegal functioning for bribes, resulting in repeated tragedies.
The most recent deaths have set off an avalanche of criticism against civic mismanagement. A civil service aspirant has written to the Chief Justice of India narrating the ordeal faced by fellow students, who live in Rajinder Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar, and the other ‘coaching colonies’ in Delhi, describing their predicament as “living a life of hell” due to poor infrastructure, drainage and other issues. The student urged the CJI to take necessary action against those responsible for the tragedy.
It is not as if the Guidelines issued by the government in January were not aware of the goings on. On the question of infrastructure, it stated: (i) 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; (ii) 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; (iii) For the assistance of the students, a coaching center shall have first aid kit and medical assistance/treatment facility. List of referral services like hospitals, doctors for emergency services, police helpline details, fire service helpline, women helpline etc. shall be displayed and the students informed about them; (iv) The coaching center building shall be fully electrified, well-ventilated, and sufficient lighting arrangements shall be made in each classroom of the building. (v) Safe and potable drinking water shall be available for all students and staff of the center. (vi) The coaching center may be suitably fitted with CCTV cameras wherever required and security shall be well maintained. (vii) A complaint box or register may be placed at the coaching center for the students to raise a complaint. Coaching center shall have a committee for redressal of complaints / grievances of students and (viii) Provision of separate toilets for males and females shall be made within the coaching center building premises.
Says Narayanan: ``It is doubtful if the municipal authorities can even understand these guidelines. I have on my team people to do the explaining.’’
Eminent educationist Rajen Harshé, founder and former Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, sees the mushrooming of such coaching institutes as a failure of the country’s education system. ``The education system is becoming defunct. While there is no place to stand in these coaching institutes, college and university classrooms are empty. No one wants to go there. The lack of employment opportunities and the numbers of those seeking jobs will ultimately create a volatile cocktail.’’
Clearly, many stakeholders will need to get their act together. But to get local politicians, municipal authorities, educationists and students on the same page, is going to be no easy task, until the next tragedy.