Say government guidelines not implemented
Faizan Wani
Srinagar: Most of the coaching centres in Kashmir have failed to adhere to the guidelines set by the school education department with parents of students alleging that the Coaching Centres are fleecing them by charging exorbitant fee for their children.
Parents have complained that the school education department has failed to keep a check on the functioning of private coaching institutes functioning in Kashmir.
“The coaching centres have started their classes without fulfilling all formalities which are laid in the norms fixed by the department,” a group of parents told KNO.
They said the institutes have started operating without getting their registration renewed from the school education department. “The coaching centres are demanding 100 percent advance fee from students which is prohibited as per the department guidelines. But the guidelines are not adhered to,” the parents said.
Meanwhile an official said that most of the coaching institutes have also failed to maintain student teacher ratio in classrooms of the institutes.
“Students don’t have facility of drinking water or toilet in coaching centres. Students keep roaming outside institutes as they don’t have facility of waiting room in institutes, which has been made mandatory by the government,” the parents said.
The parents said no inspection has been conducted by the department to check the implementation of the guidelines. “The coaching centres don’t adhere to the guidelines. Some institutes charge advance fee from students at first day due to which the students don’t get option to check the ability of teachers teaching in classes,” an official told KNO.
The official said there is no check on the authenticity of faculty members mentioned in the admission advertisements issued by coaching centres.
“They cheat students as coaching centres introduce most prominent figures as their faculty while inviting admissions but once the coaching starts, the faculty in the classrooms is different,” the official said. Last year, the department issued a list of around 130 coaching institutes which were allowed to function in with a condition to fulfill all the requisite formalities.
“The registration was valid till October 2019. This year most of the coaching centres have not applied for renewal of the registration,” the official said.
Meanwhile, an owner of one of the coaching centres told KNO that the department should have inspected all institutes during off season which would not disturb the academics of students.
“But the department wakes up during peak season which disturb the ongoing classes. No coaching centre violates guidelines but our appeal is that the process should be completed before the classes are started at the institutes,” the owner of the institute said wishing anonymity. Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) was not available for his comments due to his engagement in official meetings.
