Bilal Bashir Bhat
Srinagar, Dec 16 (KNB): Sane voices are worried that not long ago, the students used to prepare at their own or take tuitions in small groups but, of late, the mushrooming of coaching centers has become a perilous fashion for both students and their parents as parents classify these institutions of coaching by their higher costs which is becoming trend rather than a useful exercise.
Manzoor Ahmad, a commoner, while reflecting on this facet said, “The mushrooming of coaching centers without any effective check and balance system indicates the decline of our overall educational values. We also need to bear in mind that these coaching centers are functioning in quiet an eccentric manner. Though all the institutions pursue similar syllabuses of similar subjects, the costs at all institutions are different, that too in the ascending order. This certainly is a cause of concern for parents and authorities.”
Parents feel it is part of their parental duty to send their ward for private tuitions, right from Class I to Class XII, whether there is actual need of it or not. Obviously the child will be stressed due to paucity of time, having to manage ‘two study shifts and the end result would be the occurrence of immoral activities in these centers.
On the other side of the spectrum, while there are rate lists for every type of trade and business in our society, the coaching centers are not directed by any rate list or administrative check with relation to dues charged by them on subjects. On some instances some coaching centers charge anything from rs 500 to 2000 for teaching a single book on monthly basis.
A large chain of coaching centers has also been setup for professional courses as well. a number of coaching centres to provide coaching for entrance examinations to various professional courses have already started working here on a large scale.With voices stating that teachers do not pay much attention on teaching at their respective institutions, but coaching centers are their first priority.
“Coaching centers have proven to be jackpots for our teachers. Instead of teaching with dedication in schools and colleges, the teachers find it profitable to open tuition centers and earn substantially by imparting coaching and the owners of these centers claim that they provide quality education and study material to the students and screen them frequently. But in reality that is not the case, as our students have failed to crack the high level competitive exams like CAT and IIMS. One can easily say that they are more bane than a boon for our society,” said Sanam Ara, a school girl. (KNB)