Today, Saturday, July 12, Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar criticised coaching centres in Rajasthan's Kota, accusing them of being "poaching centres".
He made the remarks while speaking at the fourth convocation of the Indian Institute of Information Technology in the city.
Coming down hard on coaching centres, the vice-president stated that they have become "black holes for talent in regimented silos," implying that they do not provide many opportunities for children to flourish, which is harming their futures.
"Coaching centres have turned out to be poaching centres. They have become black holes for talent in regimented silos. Coaching centres are mushrooming. This is menacing for our youth, who are our future... We must address this malice that is worrisomely concerning. We cannot allow our education to be so smeared and tarnished," Dhankhar said.
He also chastised the centres for excessive advertising, claiming that it was not the best use of the money students paid to learn there.
“Billboards, advertisements in newspapers, where does the money come from? It comes from those who either take loans or who painstakingly pay to make their future brighter. Surely, this is not optimal utilisation of money. These advertisements are alluring, but they are eyesores for our civilisational ethos,” he said, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
The vice-president chastised coaching centres for 'robotising' pupils' brains and worrying about ideal grades.
Every year, several student suicides are recorded in Kota, most of them are caused by academic pressure and a failure to perform well in exams.
Dhankhar emphasised the necessity of improving skills, stating that coaching centres should use their infrastructure to develop into skill centres and "converge to restore sanity in education."
Kota, with its proliferation of coaching centres, is often referred to as the 'Coaching Capital of India'.
Students from all over the country stay in Kota to prepare for various competitive examinations, mostly for engineering and medical admissions, such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET).
