TAWDE TO MEET COACHING CLASS ASSOCIATION OVER NEW BILL
MUMBAI : State education minister Vinod Tawde will meet members of the coaching class association on Monday to discuss contentious provisions of the Maharashtra Private Coaching Classes Regulatory draft bill.
Tawde will hear their objections before the bill is introduced in the winter session of the legislative assembly.
Bandopant Bhuyar, president, professional teachers association (PTA), a pan-maharashtra body of coaching institute owners, said, “Currently, the draft permits only 80 students per class, which we feel needs to be extended to 100. We also demand the formation of a regulatory council for coaching class,” said Bhuyar.
Sachin Karnavat, president, Maharashtra Class Owners Association (MCOA), said the government needs to scrap the provision that requires class owners to give 1% of their profits to the government. Other provisions that have been opposed include the mandate for coaching classes to have dedicated parking spaces, separate washrooms for boys and girls. It also states that the government can monitor the study material and scrap ‘inappropriate’ content.
Subhash Joshi, trustee, Science Parivar Group of classes, said, “Classes thrive because of a competitive market. Excessive restrictions would neither benefit students nor classes”.
The first draft of the bill had been laid out in December 2017. Some of the provisions, that were included in the first draft but later removed owing to criticism by the association, include the setting of a cap on fees, giving discounts on fees and reservation of seats for economically backward students.