A risky move

Regulator for private coaching doesn't address the real problem

The private coaching industry, worth an estimated Rs 2.4 lakh crore, has come under fire from a high-powered committee set up by the Union human resource development ministry. The committee, headed by Ashok Misra, a former director of IIT-Bombay, has suggested an All India Council for Coaching for Entrance Examinations (AICCEE) to regulate fees charged by coaching institutes and ensure a minimum standard. The panel has justified its decision by saying the purpose of education was "mental refinement" and not passing an entrance exam and that students are becoming too dependent on coaching. The diagnosis is correct, but the prescription of setting up a regulator is not appropriate. At a time when India has been trying to move towards a more liberalised education sector, the presence of a large number of statutory bodies in higher education, without enjoying autonomy of functioning, has resulted in a highly bureaucratic system with multiple controls and regulations. And the regulators have not exactly covered themselves with glory. In fact, over-regulation by the government and a multiplicity of agencies have led to higher education stagnating, and corruption becoming institutionalised.

Certainly, there are problems in private coaching. Some provide sub-standard tuition at exorbitant prices; others falsely promise success in entrance examinations in glitzy advertisements. And this is not the first attempt to rein in coaching institutes. Over the past decade, the IIT Council has spent considerable time and money on reforming its admission system. Much of these efforts was aimed at denting the rapidly growing coaching industry feeding colleges with students high on rote learning but poor in the basics. However, the effect has been marginal. For example, the last time the IIT Council decided to give some importance to a candidate's performance in the "Plus Two" board examinations held at the end of 12 years of studying in school, the coaching institutes tied up with schools to offer a two-in-one coaching module for IIT aspirants. Meanwhile, parents are desperate. A study conducted by industry chamber Assocham reveals that 70 per cent of parents, from the top to the bottom of the social hierarchy, would spend a hefty sum on private coaching. But this happens because of constraints on supply, which has made it a recession-proof business. Considering that almost half the candidates who appear for various entrance examinations take private coaching, the size of the problem is staggering indeed.

Instead of a new regulator, the government would do well to realise that the coaching industry has taken root and is thriving only because of the failure to provide a good education system even at the elementary level. Pratham's Annual Status of Education Report showed children are actually learning less today in schools in rural India than in 2005. But the desire to educate children has never been higher. Enrolment is up to 97 per cent. Even poor parents are making sacrifices aplenty to spend money on tuition - the average tuition expenditure per child from families living in unfinished ("kuccha") homes is Rs 146 a month. In this context, it is freeing up the supply side that matters. More schools and colleges with the aim of adding to the existing centres of academic excellence will have to be set up. Merely setting up a regulator for coaching institutes will be an attempt to bypass the central problem ailing India's education system.