‘Lack of regulation would give free hand to integrated classes’

THE PROPOSED DRAFT OF THE MAHARASHTRA PRIVATE TUITIONS BILL STATED THAT COACHING CLASSES AND COLLEGES CANNOT RUN IN SAME PREMISE

MUMBAI: With the state education department deciding to not table the proposed Maharashtra Private Tuitions (Regulation) bill to regulate coaching classes in the winter session of the Assembly, experts are concerned about the lack of regulation to put an end to integrated classes in the state.

On November 19, state education minister Vinod Tawde promised various coaching class owners’ associations that the government would give them another opportunity to register their views on the draft bill.

Tawde had also said the bill will not be tabled in the on-going Assembly as class owners would be given sufficient time to offer up their suggestions and a fresh draft would then be prepared.

Hindustan Times tried reaching Tawde but he was unavailable for comment.

The proposed draft of the bill stated that coaching classes and colleges cannot run in the same premise. It also states that colleges that are found flouting the norms are eligible to face action and could also face de-recognition. “Two years after the education minister announced that there would be a ban on integrated coaching, nothing seems to have happened till now,” said Narendra Bambwani, former vice-president of the Maharashtra Class Owners’ Association which had earlier moved the Bombay high court (HC) against integrated classes.

“It is a ₹400-crore business which the government is afraid to meddle with,” he added.

Dileep Mehendale, president, Association of Coaching Class Owners and Mentors said that many big players are trying to escape the existing norms to facilitate tie-ups.

“Some colleges and coaching classes are so integrated that one cannot distinguish between the two,” he added.