The revised draft of the Maharashtra government’s Private Coaching Regulation Act, 2018 which is slated to be tabled during the winter session of the Assembly has irked many coaching classes owners. The small tuition centres are especially concerned and are worried that they will be unable to comply with many of its norms.
Ladika Ruke, Joint Secretary of the Maharashtra Class Owners’ Association (MCOA) said, “The definition of a coaching class is the classes having five or more students. As per norms, a small private home tuition with ten students would also have to adhere to conditions laid for coaching classes like having separate washrooms for boys and girls which it cannot afford.” She also feared that it will lead to a ‘license raj’ and cause further corruption. “Many tutors teach anywhere between 40 and 60 students in their homes. Many women sustain their families by teaching children at home. To expect them to comply with the norms being applied to established coaching classes is not fair,” she added.
The Maharashtra Private Coaching Regulation Act, 2018 aims to regulate tuition centers in the state. The initial draft proposed the setting up of a committee to decide the tuition fees that the centers could charge, however, the revised allows the owners of these tuition centers to decide the fees but with certain conditions. The initial draft also proposed that the classes should hand over 5% of its profits to the state government but the revised draft reduces it to 1%. Despite the revisions to the draft, class owners are not very pleased with the government’s plan to regulate their business.