Private Coaching Centre Deceives Students, Allege Parents

SrinagarA delegation of parents Tuesday alleged that a privately-owned coaching centre, Crescent Classes, Naseem Bagh, Srinagar, did not meet the claims the administrators made at the time of the admission of their children.

Not only did they left the syllabus incomplete but changed the teachers midway rendering the students frustrated, parent of a girl enrolled in class 11th 2017 batch said.

As an example, Chemistry was taught by three teachers namely Mr Wajahat, Mr. Adil and Mr. Mudasir, he said. The change in the faculty for the same subject confused the students as the methodology adopted by three different teachers was different.

Its like listening to a radio set under three different frequencies, the parent said. How can a student gather concentration when he/she gets tuned to a particular teacher and all of a sudden he is replaced, he said.

The parents also complained about the number of students taught in one classroom. What can a student learn when some 100 students are crammed into a single room and the teacher delivers the lecture from a microphone, they alleged.

A teacher teaching at the centre, however disagreed to the parents claim. I dont think Ive taught to exactly one hundred students or more in a single sitting, the teacher wishing not to be named, said.

He, however declined to comment on why three different teachers should teach a single subject. I guess its for the administration to decide, he said.

Disregarding the claims of the parents, the owner of the centre Mr Shahid Dar, said the centre has the best facilities available and the teaching faculty was up-to-the-mark.

We dont have more than 80 students in a class fitted with ACs, Dar said. We give 80% share to the teacher and keep with us only 20% of it. At other coaching centres, they literally bundle 2 to 300 students in a poorly furnished room not to talk of fitting the classes with the gadgets like an AC.

Dar said the greed of the teaching faculty undoubtedly puts a lot of strain on our efforts to give the best to a student. A teacher working with us gets an X amount for teaching 80 students and at other places, considering the same percentage, hed get more while teaching 200 or 300 students, he said. The government should step in and regulate the number of students per classroom.

Dar apprehended in absence of proper regulations, he might have to close down the centre. Im not here to make money but Ill have no choice to close down my centre due to the faulty system, he said.

Regarding the change in teachers, Dar said: Any subject has sub-branches and we endeavour to make available to the students the best of faculty.

Education Minister, Altaf Ahmad Bukhari, said that government is preparing a regulation mechanism to decide the number of students to be taught in a class at a private coaching centre. Well soon come up with a regulatory mechanism, Bukhari told Kashmir Observer. Depending upon the space available per room per student and the student-teacher ratio, the class size shall be fixed accordingly.

The number of students in a classroom, he said, shall not be allowed beyond a proper limit.

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