By – Dineshwore Phuritshabam
Manipur Assembly passed two bills in July session 2017- the Manipur Private School (Registration and Regulation) Bill 2017, and The Manipur Coaching institute (Control and Regulation) Bill 2017 to regulate establishment and management of private schools and coaching centers in the state due to mushrooming of such institutions. Currently in guessing around 80% of the school going children goes to private school as performance of government schools has been poor in the past few years as well as no adequate teachers and infrastructures to cop up with the current existing students. Majority of students of all classes take private tuition starting from pre nursery to the master level either at home or at coaching institutes.
The Medical, Engineering and Civil Service examinations coaching institutes in our state have become part and parcel of the students who are dreaming to be doctors, engineers and administrators in future. These institutes are charging high fees from the students .Their attractive pictures of toppers in advertisements lure the aspirants easily .Huge amount of family expenses go towards private coaching from both the rich and poor families alike . This is imposing huge emotional cost in the society. They spoil the children crushing their creativity. Their mark oriented teaching which is widely seen as a symbol of merit does not enhance human capital. The students who are confining in only in the classroom teaching and making them study subjects are being destroyed their natural talents and skills results massive lost of human capital. So, this industry needs to be relooked and regulated by the concerned authorities.
According to CMS Education Survey 2025, one in three students opt for private coaching in India and urban households spend significantly more compared to the rural household i.e. four times more. The report also showed the increasing private coaching culture in India becoming a common part of school education in India. Moreover, leak of NEET 2026 question and cancellation is a harassment to the students who are preparing for it. The NEET exam was rescheduled formally after cancellation. It gave a very bitter blow to the students and their family. They should be compensated by taking responsibility by the central government and NTA. But students are not compensated well, only refund of their NEET examination fee taken. They are not bearing travel, fooding and lodging costs considering the plight of students who are going far away examination centers from their home.
This NEET question paper is not the first time. It was reported to be happened in 2021, 2022 and 2024 too. Generally, students who dream of becoming doctors and engineers undergo extreme level of study spending huge amounts of money and time to crack the entrance examination. The preparation usually takes two to more years under rigorous pressure economically, mentally and physically to the students and their family directly. The OSM (On Screen Marking) implemented by CBSE is also making huge disappointment to the students across the nation.
Coaching institutes are not, of course, ethical in nature and very opposite to what they advertise. They are centers of Market bullies. These institutes undermine mainstream education by imposing huge opportunity cost to the students .They charge high fees often untaxed and yet remain unaccountable . Most of them do not add the value of education. They taught students only for examinations. Children copy unethical words and attitudes from his/her parents and teachers. The reason for the growth of the coaching institutes is the Entrance Examination culture in India.
Children of the poor are being exploited as they can’t afford the coaching classes. They are being traumatized by this system of education prevalent in Manipur. Children of all kinds are being seen as commodity by these institutions .Toppers/brilliant students are used to attract the other students through various kinds of advertisement. These coaching institutes provide only classroom, no outside learning. So students coming from such institutions are lacking and slipping away from humanity. Coaching institutes have emerged as villain by running an empire that arrest creative & freedom of physical and mental development of students. This erodes imaginations of the young minds systematically as it ignites psychological disorders to the students. Due to failure in the grass root educational system, most of the students lost or changed their hope after 10+2, a clear sign of misleading the younger generation.
It is known to all that urgently required a policy on regulating the coaching institutes existing in Manipur to stop commercialization of education as many of them have been established with a sole motive of earning. The relationship between student and teacher should be like fish and water – it should not be like fish and fisherman. However the existing laws of our state do not regulate effectively except some certain criteria like government teachers are disallowed taking private tuition at private coaching institutes. Bad law is worse than no law. The role of Manipur state govt. is to control and regulate such coaching institutes with moral norms to protect rights of children and their families. Coaching culture undermines Mainstream Education imposing huge cost on students.
The main reason is that demand-supply imbalance due to limited seats availability for MBBS and Engineering studies at the government institutions. It compels students to take private coaching in addition to their school education to fulfil their dreams to become doctors and engineers. This culture is very high in urban areas as most of the prominent private coaching institutions are located there. Tuition culture in the rural areas of Manipur is mainly for HSLC and HSE examinations. However, in recent times many small coaching institutions have started to emerge in the rural areas too and it’s growing rapidly. Another alarming trend in the schools of Manipur is that classes at schools are not taken seriously as students’ learning become more private tuition oriented. There is no proper student-teacher ratio maintenance in schools as learning from private tuition has become a mandatory culture. It benefited the school owners a lot. Home tuition culture has also occupied a large space in this sector. It clearly indicates the failure of quality education system at both government and private schools. Education system is the origin of human resources of any nation or state. In the current trend, both center and government are not paying enough attention to formulation as well as implementation of new education policy. Education falls in concurrent list hereby both central and state government should take up proper policy to impart equitable and quality education for children.
The implementation of NEP 2020 and three language formulae without proper quality human as well as physical infrastructure makes how education system is directed. National Testing Agency has failed one nation one entrance examination due to frequent question leaks. Many such incidents are happening in the HCLC and HSE examinations of Manipur too. It is said that leakage of questions in Manipur starts from setting questions as most of the question setters are invited for special classes at schools and coaching centers paying high. Question paper leak on the very day of the examination is also another misconduct done by schoolteachers, founders to increase overall performance of their school in the examination.
The change of orientation from quality education to securing marks is one of the root causes of such unwanted happenings in examinations. The complete sidelining away Manipuri medium schooling system in both government and private institutions, considering to be the best option for career, is a short-sighted approach. It is causing neglect of mother tongue resulting in identity conflict and alienation from parents.
