PIL filed in Supreme Court to regulate Private Coaching Institutes

In the wake of the tragedy at Surat in which twenty-two students lost their lives in a fire at a Coaching Institute, a Public Interest Litigation petition has been filed before the Supreme Court of India praying for regularization of private Coaching institutes..This PIL filed by a Delhi-based Lawyer, Pawan Prakash Pathak also prays for directions to the Centre to frame guidelines for safety measures to be adopted by such institutes. The petitioner says there should be a scheme for private coaching institutes as well as a minimum standard for operation..The increasing number of coaching classes mushrooming over time seemingly has led to a “parallel education system”, the petitioner contends..But these institutes largely remain unregularised and are not governed by any rules or statutes. There are few exceptions to this norm and Bihar is one such example. However, with the regularisation of these private institutes, aspects such as basic facilities, fees, and safety measures will have to be in consonance with the guidelines. After initial resistance, the regulations will “create a better scenario”, the petitioner opines..“There will be initial resistance to all the new regulations, curtailing the freedom that coaching classes are used to up to the present but after the initial teething troubles, the petitioner is of view that regularization of coaching classes will create a better scenario for the students, their parents and the those who run the coaching classes.”.Coaching institutes have become indispensable due to soaring cut-off marks and increased competition. Various other factors such as exam anxiety, peer pressure, parents’ lack of time etc. have also contributed to the rise in the number of children enrolled at coaching centres in addition to attending regular school, the petition avers..“With the increasing peer pressure, majority of parents are forced to rely on private tuitions for in addition to attending classes in school. Over 86% of parents think that they are ill-equipped or lack time to teach their children on their own and here’s where coaching classes come handy according to various reports and newspaper cuttings. The statistics reveal that the middle-class parents have been spending 1/3rd of their monthly on their wards’ private tuitions.”.Quoting ASSOCHAM’s figures, the PIL highlights,.“According to ASSOCHAM’s survey, a whopping number of close to 87% of primary school children and up to 95% of the higher secondary attend private coaching classes.”.In addition to this, the petition also touches upon the Constitutional right of safety of students and also stresses the importance of Right to Education. Interestingly, the petitioner has also invoked the principle of absolute liability with respect to private coaching institutes..A pertinent point raised in the petition is that these institutes can be said to be performing a public function and, therefore, falls within the ambit of Article 12 of the Constitution..“…these institutes come under the purview of state as defined under Article 12 of the constitution of India, the criteria of public importance and public duty is performed by these organizations and institutes while using the resources of the state and for this reason it is covered under the definition of State and strict action should be initiated against these institutes violating local building bye-laws of the state and safety norms.”.Based on the above grounds, the petitioner has made the following prayers:.Issue a direction to the Central government to regularise private coaching institutes by a laying down regulations/ scheme providing for minimum standards for the operation of such institutes.Protect the fundamental right of the students by framing a guideline or passing the direction to the concerned department to look after the safety measures needs to be adopted by these coaching institutes;.Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.