The private coaching centres in Kashmir particularly stationed in Srinagar city and its outskirts have disappointed parents as students of dozens of coaching centres have under-performed in the recently declared results of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) Under Graduate (UG).
The million-dollar coaching industry in Kashmir has come under sharp criticism from different quarters after it failed to perform above the national average. It is surprising that some states more backward than J&K have shown better performance than Jammu Kashmir.
Like in past, this year as well coaching centres from Kashmir Valley came up with vibrant and colorful advertisements on page one of local newspapers displaying photographs of some odd qualified students but concealing the data about the unsuccessful students.
An established mouthpiece quoting experts in its editorial asked how cracking of NEET UG by six or seven students among 2,000 students in a coaching institute in Kashmir Valley can be described as an impressive performance by that institute. The experts say the numbers should be more.
As per experts, Coaching Centres in Kashmir Valley focus more on fees rather than on education. “In the rate race of earning more and more bucks, coaching centres have failed to focus on the individual attention of the students and prefer to have instead over-crowded classrooms. Those in business earn millions. Last year Byju’s acquired Aakash Institute for 950 million Dollars.”
Of late Kashmir has become a hotspot for coaching business where so many outside franchises have entered into the arena. A well-known educationist told news agency Kashmir News Trust that instead of improving the standards of coaching and revisiting the policies for better future results, these coaching institutes focus on increasing rolls to earn more bucks.
“Competition is always good but it should be about education, better results, and not about the enrollment of more and more students,” he said adding that more students can crack the competitive examinations only if better coaching and environment are given to them.
It is a common practice in Kashmir Valley that every coaching centre tries to claim a successful student to be their product if that student happens to have attended their classes for a day or a month. “The reason is very simple, these coaching centres need the photograph of that student for publicity.”
The mushroom growth of coaching centres in absence of any regulations has not only deteriorated the standard of education but has also made people believe that the coaching industry is a business where the only motive is profit maximization. (KNT)