Private tutorials have mushroomed all across the city, holding classes according to their convenience and charging students indiscriminately, and they seem to be answerable to none.
The Karnataka Tutorial Institutions (Registration and Regulation) Rules, 2001, under the Karnataka Education Act, 1982, does provide for basic rules for private tutorials, including mandatory registration. However, implementation of the rules has been anything but strict, something that even the Department of Primary and Secondary Education admits.
Ajay Seth, Principal Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education said even the first step — registration — is not being done regularly.
“There are various kinds of tuitions. Sometimes, there are teachers going to the students’ homes, and vice-versa. But there are formal coaching centres that can be regulated and the Education Act provides for it,” he admitted.
However, the Education Department is promising some form of regulation. “Right now, we are concentrating on exams. But in the coming months, registration and regulation will be done for them,” Mr. Seth said.
‘Ideal to take a break from academics’C.R. Chandrashekhar, founder-trustee, Samadhana Counselling Centre and former professor of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, says, “It is ideal to stop academic activities for some time and pursue hobbies. Now, because of parents’ greed and the competition, children are being pushed into taking classes during summer as well. This causes unnecessary tension. Children cannot enjoy their holidays and this is not good for a growing child. Coaching centres want to create a need and reap the harvest. Parents should spend time with their children or put them into non-academic activities.”
Manila Carvalho, Principal, Delhi Public School, Bangalore East, says, “Both parents being busy could be a reason for sending children to such coaching centres during summer and not because children can't grasp lessons during the academic year. When children are forced to do this, there is not much learning because the lessons are being imposed on them. Coaching centres are just like classrooms, as there is no one-to-one interaction. It is better to develop their hobbies during holidays and allow children to do what they like the most.”
