Coaching class, a golden goose?

The immense value of coaching classes was brought into public consciousness with the recent takeover of coaching centre entity Aakash Educational Services by e-learning venture Byju’s, in a one billion dollar deal. Coaching classes serve to help fulfil the aspirations of an upwardly mobile populace that wants to better its prospects through cracking competitive exams, get into coveted courses, and ensure good professions and lives. But is it good all the way? An analysis……

It has been reported that coaching centre company Aakash Educational Services is being acquired by the e-learning education startup, Byju’s, for one billion dollars, which amounts to Rs.7500 crores. Byju’s is the second-most valued unicorn with a valuation of $13.6 billion. Many of us might have missed this news item. It also might not have evoked much interest, considering it an ordinary case of merger and acquisition. But the fact remains that this news of the proposed financial transaction gives much food for thought.

COACHING OUTFIT

Aakash is not an industrial company but only runs coaching centres all over the country. It has about 250 centres and about 2,00,000 students. Aakash started in 1988 as a one unit coaching centre and as of today, it has made its name for coaching students for entrances to medical colleges and IITs. Byju’s in a short-time of less than ten years has made its name in the field of e-learning, whose clients are students from kindergarten to 12th Class.

The lockdown due to coronavirus since last year has resulted in a windfall for Byju’s as the number of students joining it has risen steeply. The one billion-dollar deal is one of the biggest in the world, in relation to a coaching class entity. It gives rise to the thinking that private tuitions in India are very profitable. It also makes us ponder over the enormous value that Byju’s commands. Aakash is supported by Blackstone as its big investor, while Byju’s has many well-known investors on its panel.

We must analyse as to why private coaching, outside the regular educational framework of schools and colleges have become money making machines. Are regular schools and colleges failing?

EDUCATE, FOR A GOOD JOB

India is a developing country where a major part of the population is either poor or middle-class. Parents have started believing that a good job can lift them up economically. And for getting a good job, education is a must. Parents, though poor, are always ready to spend on the education of their children. Normally, government or municipality-owned schools are very cheap compared to private schools. Yet, poor parents wish to send their children to private schools because of the perception that there is better teaching in private schools. This may not be the truth, as many central schools have more qualified teachers than in private schools, but the perception remains. They further believe that English medium schools, preferably convent schools, are the best of the lot, and hence, parents rush to these schools to get their kids admitted to KG classes.

This psychology of parents does not stop here. They feel that even if their children are in the best of available schools, classroom teaching is not sufficient. They want to supplement the educational process of their children with outside aids and here come the coaching classes. For ambitious parents, the help of a coaching class is a must, even for KG students, and here comes the need for institutes like Byju’s. The final objective is to get a good job and this is possible with the double dose of teaching, one in the school classroom and the other in the coaching institute, which is what the parents believe. This has led to the mushrooming of tuition classes. It will not be incorrect to say that the rise of coaching classes is directly linked first with the aspirations of the parents and next with the ambition of youngsters who want to rapidly hit the target.

SCHOOLS FOUND WANTING

It cannot be denied that in most of the schools, classroom teaching is not up to the mark. This is visible in rural schools to a larger extent. Leading NGO, Pratham, which works in the field of quality education, has expressed in its annual report of 2020 that the situation is really bad, as the quality of education being imparted in primary schools is so abysmal, that students in Class 1 could not even recognise two-digit numbers. In such a situation, school students need external help, and that becomes a realistic reason for the growth of coaching classes. The stoppage of physical classrooms due to coronavirus has also led to the rise in e-learning coaching centres.

"Leading NGO, Pratham, which works in the field of quality education, has expressed in its annual report of 2020 that the situation is really bad, as the quality of education being imparted in primary schools is so abysmal, that students in Class 1 could not even recognise two digit numbers"

ASSURED FUTURE

It is commonly believed that if a student gets admission at IITs, NITs and medical colleges after passing 12th, then the student’s future is assured. This belief is factually true. Students supported by parents try their best to clear these examinations. Entrance exams for such admissions like JEE Mains, JEE Advance and NEET are tough and not very easy to crack. The competition becomes all the more difficult due to a large number of aspirants. In such a situation, students seek external help to understand more about the modalities of these examinations and even tricks to crack them. Specalised coaching classes like Aakash have had a phenomenal rise because of such demand from students.

Specialised coaching centres are not limited to those enabling admissions into professional colleges after school, but go much further. After graduation, students aspire to join IIMs, as a management degree from these institutes serve as a passport to quick commercial success as they not only assure lucrative jobs but help students in starting their own businesses. CAT has to be cracked to reach the IIMs, and this entrance test is again tough. Specialised coaching centres for cracking CAT are operating all over the country.

Last and not least, we have elite coaching classes to train students to clear civil service examinations conducted by UPSC and State Public Service Commissions. Why not go for IAS, IPS or IRS for a good life of power and money? And this ambition of young graduates has pumped some well-known coaching classes in Delhi with lots of money. Students from all over the country reach Delhi to join these elite coaching classes, as they are mainly based there.

NOTHING WRONG?

Apparently, there is nothing wrong with this parallel educational system. Students, be they small children or teenagers or young graduates, are taught more and hence, it is good for them. However, when we look deeper, we realise that it is not all good.

Firstly, it brings a divide between rich and poor students. It is only rich students who can afford to go to coaching classes. Poor students manage to attend schools and colleges with great difficulty, and they do not have additional resources to go to these parallel educational centres. The specialised coaching for JEE (main) JEE (advance), NEET, CAT and for civil service examinations are very expensive and the poor cannot even think of them. Secondly, some good students who cannot afford tuition classes are left behind and the mediocre move ahead with the external help given at these expensive coaching classes.

Third, the objective is to get brilliant and innovative students into IITs or medical colleges and this objective is defeated through these coaching classes. The entrance tests finally become the test of preparedness and not the test of intelligence. This deprives us from getting research oriented scientific minds.

UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The illustration of the well-known ‘Super 30’ of Patna, where 30 very poor students are coached free and all of them get admitted to good IITs, is a proof that poverty is a dividing line between success and failure. But for this ‘Super 30’, these poor students might have missed the bus of success while the rich from coaching centres would have boarded the bus. What is important is that opportunities for the rich and the poor should be equal and let merit win the battle and not money. Coaching classes serve the money bags and the poor, though having merit, are left behind.

Coaching classes have, however, one big advantage. They are big employers. Nobody can say anything against these classes if they serve both the rich and the poor. They can serve the rich for the sustenance of their business but they should also serve the poor and meritorious like the ‘Super 30’. Economic activities in a small town like Kota, Rajasthan have flourished because of the mushrooming of coaching classes. There is a complete makeover of the town due to the presence of a large number of students. Even in Delhi, the localities where there are IAS coaching centres, have improved their economic status. Allied services like hostels, paying guest facilities, messes for students and book shops have flourished in these localities. Students coming from all over the country have given a cosmopolitan look to these areas.

There are both good and bad points about coaching classes. The fact remains that this industry is booming and even its future looks bright.