Page 18 - EW June 2021 Low Res

Education News

KARNATAKA passed without writing board exams.
Hard times We tried to make a switch to online tu-
toring. But the response from parents
and students is not encouraging. They
windling student admissions in are reluctant to pay full fees for on-
the wake of the 13-months clo- line classes. We have had to offer fee
Dsure of education institutions rebates even though we have invested
nationwide to check the spread of the substantially in digital infrastructure
Covid-19 pandemic have sounded a and teacher training to provide on-
death knell for the state’s estimated line education,” says Rajeev Ran-
10,000 brick-and-mortar private tu- jan, founder of Brilliant Academy, a
torial centres offering supplementary private tutorials chain in Bengaluru.
tutorials, aka coaching, to secondary Moreover with intermittent state
students preparing for school-leaving government-mandated lockdowns
board exams and professional educa- of business and industry resulting in
tion entrance tests. While established job losses and/or falling household
national tutorial chains such as Byjus, incomes, parents are unwilling to pay
Aakash, FIITJEE and TIME have suc- private school tuition and supplemen-
cessfully switched to online mentor- tary tuition fees in addition. Accord-
ing, smaller proprietorial tutorial cen- ing to Harish Kumar S, a teacher
tres have not been able to make this at Aspire Tutorials, Bengaluru which
switch effectively. With parents suc- coaches students for junior college
cumbing to the intensive advertising (class XI-XII) exams and the state Sample Survey Office indicates that
of heavyweight tutorial chains prom- CET (Common Entrance Test), middle three out of five school students in In-
ising seamless online classes, many and lower middle class parents have dia attend after-school coaching cen-
neighbourhood tutorial centres have suffered significant jobs and income tres or take home-based supplemen-
slumped into bankruptcy. loss during the pandemic. tary tuition. The pandemic-triggered
Usually in April-May, before the “Pre-pandemic, we had 45 stu- 13-months shutdown of all education
start of the academic year in June, dents per batch. Now it is around 10- institutions has severely impacted this
private tutorial centres in the state 15. Even for the few admissions we industry and thrown it out of gear.
— especially its admin capital Ben- have managed, parents are asking for ince coaching centres are not le-
galuru — are abuzz with parents and fee discounts. Many small businesses Sgally required to register with the
students queuing up for admission. have remained shut for most of the state’s education ministry, they don’t
This year, there is an estimated 30-40 year and labour in private companies qualify for government aid. For in-
percent decline in applications. With have not been paid for months. With stance, though there are an estimated
the national CBSE and CISCE boards parents not paying full fees and banks 10,000 private coaching centres in
canceling class X and class XII board reluctant to lend, we can’t afford to in- Karnataka and 500 in Bengaluru, only
exams, and professional entrance ex- vest sufficiently in online education,” 28 are registered with the education
ams such as NEET, IIT-JEE and CET says Kumar. ministry. “This means that govern-
postponed indefinitely in anticipation The consequence of decades of fail- ment does not recognise them and
of a third wave of the pandemic, par- ure to invest in high quality teacher they are not eligible for any financial
ents and students are adopting a wait training institutions — the majority of support. Private tutoring and coach-
and watch approach. the country’s 17,503 teacher training ing centres have sprung up in huge
“Since March 2020, private coach- colleges are shoddy, ill-equipped and numbers in urban and semi-urban
ing centres in the state have been shut, under-supervised institutions provid- areas. With most schools not having
opening briefly during November- ing distance learning programmes — good teachers and unable to provide
February. With the state in a lock- resulted in mushrooming of a large individual attention to ensure good
down since April, a majority of them number of for-profit tutorials/coach- learning outcomes, parents routinely
have reported heavy decline in student ing centres. sign up children for supplementary
registrations. Over the past year with India’s private tutorials sector, tutoring-coaching,” says Prof. A.S.
schools and government cancelling aka coaching centres, employ tens of Seetharamu, former professor at
exams, parents and students have not thousands of tutors and teachers and the Institute of Social and Economic
taken studies seriously. A majority of chalk up an aggregate revenue of $40 Change, Bengaluru and currently
parents assume that next year will be billion (Rs.296,000 crore) per year. A education advisor to the Karnataka
more of the same and students will be 2015 study conducted by the National government.

18 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2021