Rajasthan's Bill on Coaching Centres

Copyright infringement not intended

Picture Courtesy:  THE HINDU

Context

The Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Coaching Centres (Control and Regulation) Bill, 2025, to regulate coaching institutes amid rising student suicides in coaching hubs like Kota.

Rajasthan Coaching Centres (Control and Regulation) Bill 2025

Objective: Addresses unchecked commercialization, mental health crises, and exploitative practices in the coaching industry.

Key Provisions  

Mandatory Registration: Coaching centres with over 100 students must register with district authorities, which hold civil court-like powers.

• Non-compliance incurs penalties: ₹50,000 for the first violation, ₹2 lakh for the second, and registration cancellation for subsequent breaches.

Fee Regulation: Institutes cannot collect lump-sum fees upfront.

• Fees must be reasonable, with receipts issued, and refunds for tuition and hostel fees are mandatory within 10 days if a student discontinues.
• Payment in at least four instalments is allowed.

Mental Health and Academic Support: Centres must provide counselling systems and immediate support for distressed students.

• Class hours are capped at 5 hours daily, with a mandatory weekly day off to reduce fatigue.

Grievance Redressal: District-level committees, headed by Collectors, and a 24/7 student helpline address complaints within 30 days.

• A state-level Rajasthan Coaching Centres Control and Regulation Authority, chaired by the Higher Education Secretary, includes psychologists, parents, and institute representatives.

Transparency and Accountability: Centres must maintain websites detailing tutor qualifications, fees, and success rates. False claims or misleading advertisements promising guaranteed ranks are prohibited.

Regulation of Coaching Centres at the All-India Level

The Central Government’s Coaching Centre Regulatory Guidelines (2024), issued by the Union Ministry of Education, set a national framework to address the unregulated growth of coaching institutes.

Key Guidelines

Minimum Age and Tutor Qualifications: No student below 16 years or pre-Class 10 can enroll. Tutors must hold at least a graduate degree, and those convicted of moral turpitude are barred.

Infrastructure and Safety: Centres must follow fire safety codes, maintain minimum space per student, and comply with building regulations.

Mental Health Focus: Mandatory counselling and career guidance to mitigate stress. Centres must avoid glorifying toppers or making false success claims.

Challenges in Regulating Coaching Centres

Industry pushback: Powerful and influential coaching institutes have used legal objections to stall regulations.  

Monitoring and oversight: Huge number of coaching centres, including small "mom-and-pop" establishments, makes effective monitoring difficult for state governments.  

Online and hybrid coaching: Regulations often fail to address online and hybrid coaching models, creating a loophole that allows platforms to engage in the same problematic practices as physical centres.

Inconsistent enforcement: With regulations left to state and union territory governments, enforcement remains inconsistent across the country.

Deceptive marketing: Many coaching centres make misleading claims of guaranteed success, inflated selection rates, and exaggerated faculty credentials to attract students.

• Despite guidelines from the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), this practice continues.

High fees and unfair policies: Coaching institutes often charge exorbitant fees that cause financial strain on families.

Excessive pressure and mental health: Highly competitive and exam-centric environment of coaching creates immense stress for students, contributing to academic burnout and tragically, student suicides, especially in coaching hubs like Kota.

Prioritizing rote learning: Many institutes focus narrowly on exam preparation and shortcuts instead of encouraging conceptual understanding.

• The National Education Policy 2020 seeks to address this by reducing the emphasis on exams.

Way Forward

State-level implementation: Ministry of Education's 2024 guidelines provide a framework to regulate coaching centers, states must be encouraged to pass and implement legislation to holds coaching centers accountable.

Abolish dummy schools: Stronger regulations are needed to crack down on "dummy schools" that allow students to focus solely on coaching at the expense of their formal education. Mandatory school attendance must be enforced.

Addressing student mental health: As mandated by the 2024 Supreme Court guidelines, coaching centers and schools must provide robust counseling systems with trained mental health professionals.

Regulate advertising: Strict implementation of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) guidelines to prohibit coaching institutes from making misleading claims.

Promote Mental Health Infrastructure: Establish dedicated mental health cells in coaching hubs, staffed by trained psychologists. The National Mental Health Programme (2024) can fund such initiatives.

Learn from Global Models: Adopt elements from Singapore’s tuition regulation framework, which mandates tutor qualifications and caps class hours while allowing market flexibility.

Finland’s Education Model offers holistic learning over competitive exam pressure.

• Finnish schools integrate career counselling and mental health support from primary levels, reducing reliance on coaching.
• India could adapt such models to balance academic rigor with student well-being.

Source: THEHINDU