Coaching centre timings in city yet to be regulated

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 2

The Chandigarh Administration is yet to act on the directions of the State Advisory Council to restrict coaching centres from operating during the school hours.

It was decided during the State Advisory Council meeting on May 9 that the District Magistrate will be requested to reiterate the order so that the coaching centres/institutes do not render coaching to students during the school hours — from 8 am to 3 pm — in public interest.

It was also decided that the Education Department will make sure that all classes for students of Class XI and XII are over by 2 pm so that students can join coaching classes by 3 pm.

During the meeting, the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) Chairperson Harjinder Kaur, Delhi Public School Principal Reema Dewan and St John’s High School Principal Kavita Das had said that coaching institutes were running classes during the school hours due to which, students are not attending regular classes at schools.

Kavita Das, Principal of St John’s High School, said: “A lot of students are taking tutorials during the school hours. Attending schools is more than just studies and includes holistic development, companionship and extracurricular activities.”

“In case timings are adjusted by the Administration, students can balance both schools and coaching classes. Students should not be left to make a choice between the two,” said Reema Dewan.

However, Deputy Commissioner Mandip Brar was unavailable for comments.

Meanwhile, parents who don’t want their children to go to coaching institutes during the school hours are at the receiving end.

Preeti Bagai, a parent, said: “A Sector 34-based coaching institute runs four batches for toppers in the morning. When I asked the coaching institute to shift one topper batch in the evening, they removed my child from the topper batch. The institute even held a parent-teacher meeting to motivate them for dummy admissions.”

Bagai added: “As a parent, I am against dummy admissions and they should not be allowed to continue.”

Previous orders

Last year, the then District Magistrate Ajit Balaji Joshi had issued orders on June 12 that private coaching centres within the jurisdiction of Chandigarh shall not render coaching to schoolchildren from 8 am to 3 pm. The orders were effective for a period of 60 days only. No fresh orders were released after August 29, 2018, thus giving coaching centres a free hand thereafter.

Time and again, the orders regarding the timing of coaching institutes have been lifted. In 2015, Mohammed Shayin, the then DC, issued orders on coaching institutes during school hours by imposing Section 144 of the CrPC. The ban was lifted by the DC later.