The Rajasthan government is expected to introduce a bill in the winter session of the state assembly which would regulate private educational institutes.
Under the ambit come schools, universities and test-prep specialists.
Background
The bill intends to ease the academic pressure on students, especially those enrolled in such institutes.
The decision has been made in light of the incident in which three students of a private test-prep institute in Kota recently died from suicide, allegedly due to academic pressure.
The government will table the Rajasthan Private Educational Regulatory Authority Bill 2022 in the winter session which is likely to be held in January, 2023.
Regulatory authority
The bill proposes the establishment of a regulatory authority to prescribe standards for education in private institutes.
This authority will also regulate the fee structure and impose penalties for failure to comply with its orders.
The bill was drafted by a five-member committee of academicians, sociologists and psychologists and submitted in August.
It seeks to prohibit private institutes from glorifying toppers, prescribes an aptitude test for admission and makes registration mandatory for all such institutes, even if they are only running online courses.
The epicenter
Kota is the center of India’s test-prep business, estimated to be worth ₹5,000 crore annually.
Students from all over the country arrive here in huge numbers after their Class X, and register in residential test-prep institutes.
They attend classes at these institutes which prepares them for their Class XII examination but more importantly, entrance examinations such as JEE and NEET.
The whole journey is stressful for the students which is made worse by the fact that they undertake it without their families.
No slowdown in numbers
In 2018, at least 19 students in the city died by suicide.
This was up significantly from 7 in 2017 and 17 in 2016.
Thus far this year 14 have already taken their own lives.
Other states
States such as Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka already have regulations in place for private educational institutes.
The Himachal authority regulates the fee structure and seeks annual audit reports.
The Karnataka authority has similar powers in regulating fee structure and admissions in higher education institutions.
Provisions of the bill
The Rajasthan government’s draft bill proposes a compulsory aptitude test prior to the joining and regular sessions with psychologists for students suffering from mental stress.
Regular sessions with psychologists would be held for students as well as parents.
The bill also says that private coaching institutes must have a career counseling cell.
It calls for compulsory counselling sessions for students to de-stress them and prevent cases of suicide along with the installation of a 24×7 helpline for both students and parents.
Make fee structure public
Further, a framework will be developed which would keep a check on the fee charged by coaching institutes.
It will be made compulsory for these institutes to publicly display details of the fee structure to avoid any fraudulent practices.
Predatory advertising
The draft also says that the authority will take steps to rein in malpractices of bogus advertising, false claims (number of students selected in a particular exam, name of faculty and others) of coaching centres,
The bill also provides an easy exit policy if a student wants to quit the course midway, with provision of refunds.
A penalty may be imposed including cancellation of the institute’s registration, if they fail to refund the money.
