Coaching centres ‘mediate’ dummy admissions in city

Naina Mishra

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 28

Another academic session is about to begin with coaching institutes in the city all set to enrol engineering and medical colleges’ aspirants. 

However, these coaching institutes are still providing aspirants with classes during the school hours despite last year’s ban on their morning operations.

What’s more? These institutes are even suggesting the names of schools which offer dummy admissions to students. 

The defiance by institutes came to the fore when The Tribune correspondent posed as a student to inquire about dummy admissions and classes timings. The correspondent has recordings of the conversation with the spokespersons for coaching institutes.

“Morning and evening batches are available. The morning timings will be 9 am to 2 pm and the batch will commence in the first week of April. We have tie-up with several schools which provide students with dummy admissions. You can seek dummy admission in your school, but if you go through us, the responsibility will be ours. Our associate schools charge minimal fee — between Rs 20,000 and 25,000 annually,” a person employed at Sri Chaitanya Institute, Sector 34, told the correspondent over a telephonic conversation.

Some coaching centres have supplanted the word ‘dummy schools’ with ‘relax schools’ while offering admission to the students.

During a visit to Allen Institute in Sector 34, a woman at the help desk said: “There are relax schools that we suggest. We provide a list of school in May. The list is confidential and cannot be disclosed right now.”

A telephonic conversation with the Allen Institute employee revealed that the institute has tie-up with schools which don’t make attendance a compulsion. “For morning timings, the students will have to come to Mohali as the Chandigarh institute runs batches after 3 pm,” stated the employee.

Bansal classes in Sector 34 also have a morning slot from 8:15 am to 1:15 pm. 

“Some government schools offer admission wherein students have to visit the school twice or thrice a week. They don’t bother students for attendance. You have to approach the schools in a manner that you convince them that the child will not be able to attend the school regularly,” a teacher at a coaching centre said while explaining how dummy admissions operate.

Jyoti, a parent, told The Tribune: ‘I have recently spoken to a coaching centre which assured me that my ward will be admitted to a school on dummy basis. They have tie-up with some schools in the city.”

Meanwhile, Director, School Education, Rubinderjit Singh Brar said: “We will take necessary action after receiving some concrete information.” 

Deputy Commissioner Mandip Brar could not be contacted.

What are dummy admissions

Dummy admissions involve students preparing for competitive exams such as JEE/NEET. They don’t need to attend the school regularly. The schools themselves take care of the compulsory attendance of a student and practical exams in lieu of monetary gains.

No policy on coaching centres 

In 2015, the UT Administration mulled to devise a policy for regulating the coaching centres. A committee was constituted for the same which included Deputy Commissioner and Director Higher Education. However, no action was taken at the time.

The DC orders 

The private coaching centres within the jurisdiction of Chandigarh shall not render coaching to schoolchildren from 8 am to 3 pm in view of public interest for a period of 60 days. The orders were effective from July 1, 2018, for a period of 60 days only.