Coaching pushes schools to the brink

The decline of schools as vibrant learning communities, composed of eager learners and quality educators, is being challenged. This is largely due to the growing prevalence of coaching factories, which not only present a challenge but also pose a severe threat to a healthy schooling culture in the country.

The middle-class aspiration for a good life revolves around the idea of children excelling in highly competitive engineering and medical examinations, creating a culture of cut-throat competition and a relentless pursuit of success, even at the cost of declining mental health and the risk of breakdown.

The gravity of the crisis is evident in a recent study conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The findings expose the disconcerting reality of the emergence of “dummy schools,” constituting over one-third of the study sample. These “dummy schools” cater to “dummy students” enrolled in Classes XI and XII, officially, but who rarely attend classes. Instead, they spend their hours preparing for competitive examinations in coaching institutes. The “official” schools maintain fabricated attendance records, allowing these students to sit for their board examinations. In this context, schools are reduced to mere attendance-forging mechanisms, at least for a significant population of students who enrol but prefer to spend their time in coaching factories that appear to bring them closer to their dream careers.

As the coaching industry proliferates and gains widespread acceptance, the importance of schools as ecosystems for the holistic development of students is being challenged. This has led to the devaluation of schools as learning institutions and boards such as the CBSE as certifying agencies. In this milieu, the coaching industry catering to nation-level entrance tests appears to be at the forefront.

An inspection team’s report reveals a significant increase in student enrolment for board classes in CBSE schools, which otherwise have a relatively low student enrolment in the lower classes, especially where attendance is a prerequisite. Attendance for these classes is nearly zero across the surveyed sample.

Coaching institutes often persuade parents that, besides preparing their children for competitive exams, they will also handle higher secondary education. The survey indicates that several of these schools have long-term tie-ups with coaching institutes running almost a racket wherein children don’t need to be physically present in the schools but can still appear for Board exams. This implies that such schools charge tuition fees while significantly minimising their expenses on recruiting teachers and arranging for other logistics, thereby striking a lucrative deal. The focus for many “dummy students” is on competitive exams such as the JEE, NEET, CUET, etc., with less attention given to what schools traditionally offer.

The blame for the decline of schools as vital learning communities, prioritising all-round student development, lies on the coaching factory racket. This lucrative industry is at the heart of the crisis in Indian schooling in contemporary times and requires critical examination and deep reflection to find viable solutions. The board examinations are being reduced to mere qualifying exams, indicating a prevalent understanding that a student somehow just needs to pass them to be eligible for admission in colleges where scores of competitive examinations alone count.

An evident loophole of the prevalent system is the absence of any weightage for the board examination results and the resultant callous approach to school education. With a focus on mere coaching, we compromise on the holistic development of students, reducing them to mere ‘examination warriors’ with a narrow notion of success and a very uncreative, fragmented, and utilitarian sense of achievement. No wonder it is due to the mind-boggling pressure experienced by lakhs of students that many of them choose to commit suicide to put an end to their existence, which is more often than not reduced to a dreadful and emotionally tiring drill to attain an artificial marker of success and self-worth. 

In our sane moments, we talk about special cells and toll-free numbers instituted during examinations to curb ‘exam anxiety and stress,’ or refer to the availability of well-trained counsellors on call or even special retreats that promise to de-stress and detox, but we tend to forget that this requires much more than the promise of instant solutions to complex problems. It calls for a re-evaluation of both education and success, the purpose of learning and the expectations from those who call themselves ‘learned’, and above all, it demands that we look for somewhat deep, profound, and sustainable solutions rather than opting for ‘fast-food’ solutions to a slow-cooked and well-planned crisis. But are we ready to look beyond the obvious?

(Sharma is the founding editor of The New Leam. Ananya Pathak works at Azim Premji University, Bhopal)