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    Finally, Govt cracks whip on shady coaching centres, makes them pay Rs 1 crore in refunds to cheated students

    In a welcome move, the Government facilitated over Rs 1 crore in refunds to students who were cheated and short-changed by shady coaching centres in the country.

    The move comes shortly after the Supreme Court rejected the petition to conduct a re-examination of NEET, sensing such demand was driven by the coaching centres knowing the students will have to enrol again and pay the fees again.

    Over 656 students of various coaching Institutes of UPSC Civil Services, IIT, medical entrance, CA and management courses claimed refund from coaching centres and private institutions by registering their grievance on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) run by Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA).

    Government said it is intervening at a pre-litigation stage to ensure justice for students and aspirants who enrolled for the UPSC Civil Services, IIT and other entrance examinations.

    Following numerous complaints regarding unfair practices by various coaching centres especially not refunding the enrolment fees of the students, NCH got in action to resolve on a mission-mode by getting refunds to affected students. Negotiations on pending claims of Rs.1.39 Cr are still underway.

    The development lays bare the growing frustration of students and predatory nature of coaching centres whose only mission is trap the young aspirants through hype and false promises, and then charge exorbitant fees. Millions of middle-class households spend their  hard-earned, life time saving, even take loans to see their children secure a better future through coaching in a fiercely contested space of jobs.

    The total numbers of grievances registered by the students against coaching centres in the year 2021-2022 are 4,815 followed by year 2022-2023 having 5,351 and 2023-2024 are 16,276 – a four-fold jump in two years.

    In one instance,  a student from Bangalore who had taken a study loan of Rs 3.5 lakhs to take admission in a management course offered by an institution from Lucknow. He was forced to opt out of the course on account of unreasonable delays in commencement of course. Even after multiple follow ups, the refund was not granted. Distressed by loan EMIs and inability to enrol anywhere else due to paucity of funds, he approached NCH and was granted refund on department’s intervention.

    This decisive action comes after the National Consumer Helpline received multiple grievances from students who had enrolled in UPSC Civil Services, IIT and other coaching programmes but faced issues such as unfulfilled promises, inadequate teaching quality, and abrupt cancellations of courses.

    Data reveals that during a short span of 12 months i.e. 2023-2024 – 16,276 numbers of students reached out to NCH, after they were ticked off by coaching centres.

    Govt is currently handling 6980 complaints and says the latest action shows there is  growing confidence and trust of students in NCH as an effective grievance redressal mechanism before opting to knock at the door of court.

    Says Nidhi Khare, Secretary of DoCA, “We are dedicated to safeguarding the rights of students who invest their precious time and resources in pursuing their dreams. This action reaffirms our commitment to ensure that coaching institutions adhere to fair practices and honour the rights of consumers.”

    Government also initiated a class action suit against malpractices of misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices and has also penalized several coaching centres on several occasions.

    The total numbers of grievances registered by the students in the year 2021-2022 are 4,815 followed by year 2022-2023 having 5,351 and 2023-2024 are 16,276 – a four-fold jump in two years.

    The coaching industry in India, especially for competitive exams like NEET, JEE, UPSC, and others, is a massive business to the tune of Rs.58,088 crore ($7 billion) and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% by 2025 . Revenue from competitive exams is driven by entrance exams like JEE, NEET, UPSC, and various state exams.

    Coaching for JEE and NEET alone is estimated at Rs.35,000 crore ($4.3 billion). More than 1.5 million students appear for NEET annually, with around 1 million for JEE. It is estimated that about 75% of aspirants for competitive exams take coaching classes.

    The Government  intervention to rein in coaching sector has come at just the right time. The balloon of re-exam after question paper leaks floated by coaching mafia was punctured by the Supreme Court when it refused to wilt under high-pressure argument that the sanctity of exams has been violated by leaks and there should be re-exam.

    Instead, it went by CBI’s investigation that leaks indeed took place but were not widespread, only about 155 students might have benefitted from two centre in Bihar. So why were re-exam petitioners so gung-ho about it. Because nearly 23 lakh students would re-take the exams, re-take the coaching and coaching mafia will fleece the goats twice. Fantastic business model! But SC saw through it, threw the plea out.

    Mediocre graduates, college dropout and all-rounder rejects, with some shady experience of three to four years, are writing lessens for the IAS today. Coaching centres are also hiring cheapest grads from the labour chowk. What do they do? Just milk the internet and bottle-feed it to gullible aspirants in the class next day. Lesson sold in lakhs of rupees to students by coaching centres are written by some garbage tutors for a few hundred rupees.

    Education ministry now wants that tutor should be minimum a graduate. What does this mean? This means there have been instances where tutors were not even graduates.  High time the noose is tightened on coaching centres, there should be stringent periodical assessment of the faculty they hire and each tutorial should be marked with the writer’s name, qualification and contact information. Those who do not qualify, should be shut down with heavy penalties.

    Pradeep Rana
    Pradeep Ranahttps://theliberalworld.com/
    Journalist: Geopolitics, Law, Health, Technology, STM, Governance, Foreign Policy
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