NEW DELHI: The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry taking a serious view to increasing number of schools renting out space to private institutions to run coaching classes for various competitive examinations is charting out new guidelines, which would ban such activities on school campus.
A top official said that there have been complaints of many schools across the country involved in such activity and that is not permissible under any circumstances and schools must follow the norms.
``Schools conduct daily classes and at the same time are involving private coaching academies separately for preparing their students for various competitive examinations, they are involving themselves to double standards. It is a business deal and school students are being forced to take admission to these private coaching classes offered in their school premises,” said a senior HRD Ministry official.
“Even students from other schools are also allowed to come to these centres. The decision to set up parallel coaching classes within the school premises is purely a commercial decision. It is a complete dichotomy on the part of the school management and such activities must stop,” the official pointed out.
According to a official who works in a private school in Ghaziabad, these private coaching tutors offer discounted fee for students of the school where they are allowed to run their coaching classes.
Leading coaching centres in Delhi and NCR charge anywhere between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh for a six-month course for engineering and medical entrances respectively.
The HRD Ministry has also sort feedback from various agencies involved in holding school examinations (such as CBSE) for recruitment to central government services such as UPSC and SSC to suggest ways to reduce dependence of students on coaching.
The aim is to device an examination pattern both for schools and admissions to engineering, medical colleges besides examinations for job recruitment.
Despite changing the examination pattern for IITs in 2013, which was aimed at reducing dependence on coaching centres, there has been a surge in students opting for coaching classes taking entrance tests.
The government has also initiated IIT-PAL, in which at least 200 recorded lectures each for Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology will be telecast on TV by the HRD Ministry from January 1, 2017. This will be helpful for students who cannot afford to go to private tuition.