Coaching Institutions are Falling apart in the Corona era

Devesh Tiwari (name changed) teaches in some institutions preparing for civil service for the last five years.

Apart from Delhi, he used to go to Lucknow, Allahabad and Jaipur too. He used to earn around one lakh rupees every month from coaching institutes. Coaching institutes are closed after the lockdown and Devesh Tiwari is unemployed.

This situation is not only of Devesh Tiwari, but of thousands of teachers who teach in coaching institutes, who are either full time or part time are associated with this profession.

The directors of coaching institutes and the people employed through them are also facing the burden of unemployment at this time and they do not see any hope of getting better.

Due to the Corona crisis, the pace of every sector of the economy has slowed down.

This economic crisis, which is prevailing across the country, is also having an impact on private educational institutions, coaching institutes and the people associated with it.

Business worth crores

If we talk about Uttar Pradesh, then there are cities like Allahabad, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Bareilly, Kanpur, which are known as big centers of coaching institutes.

Due to these coaching institutes, a large number of local students come here as well as students from nearby areas and due to this they also contribute a lot to the economy of these cities.

Apart from civil services, these coaching institutes prepare for other competitive examinations like banking, SSC, engineering-medical.

Although there is no official data about this, but according to experts, coaching institutes across the country have a business worth thousands of crores of rupees.

The main sources of income of these institutions are students and students are not coming due to lockdown.

Coaching operators have demanded from the government that they be given some facilities so that the financial crisis faced by the people associated with this industry can be avoided.

Lockdown Guidelines

About 250 institutes are associated with UP Coaching Association, the organization of coaching institutes in Uttar Pradesh.

Association president Vijay Singh says, “Since the beginning of March, almost all coaching institutes have been closed. That is, we have not received any income for four months. The guidelines issued by the government will refer to the university-college.” But there is no discussion about coaching institutes. The government has given many types of discounts to universities and colleges, but we have no question. Most coaching institutes run in rented houses. Initially we paid rent but Are now unable and landlords are pushing for rent. “

Allahabad in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh has a large number of competitive students and hundreds of coaching institutes are there.

According to an estimate, there are about 500 coaching institutes here preparing for various competitive examinations.

However, according to district school inspector RN Vishwakarma of Prayagraj, the number of registered institutions in them is only 137.

Online classes option

All the coaching operators have had to close their institute due to the lockdown.

Dr Jitendra Srivastava used to run his own coaching center in Prayagraj but he closed the institute a month ago.

He explains, “The source of income is only the students. They used to pay the rent of the building for two months but now it was difficult. Secondly, there is no hope that the lockdown will open soon and children will start studying. In Prayagraj city Dozens of coaching institutes have been closed due to this. Those who are big institutes can save themselves for a few days but they are also difficult to run for more days. “

Although some institutes are offering the option of online classes to the students and some have started it but now the number of students studying through online medium is very less. Secondly, online classes will not be very helpful in reducing unemployment.

A large group of students from UP-Bihar come to Prayagraj, Varanasi and Lucknow to prepare for various competitive examinations.

Thousands of people get employment in these cities because of these students and coaching institutes.

Economy rests on students

There are many locales in Prayagraj, whose economy rests on the students. Most such neighborhoods have become empty after the lockdown.

In the evening, where there were crowds of students, those roads have become deserted and the income of all the shopkeepers there has been greatly affected.

Due to the large number of students, there are many houses in these cities, where lodges or PGs are made and rented to the students.

But these houses have become empty now and their owners have also faced a crisis of livelihood.

MP Singh, who runs a PG in Mumfordganj area of ​​Prayagraj, says, “We have had 100 beds vacant for three months for girls. But the expenses are the same. We have 12 employees who have to pay around Rs 1 lakh per month.” I have taken a construction loan from the bank from above, I have to pay its EMI. The government is requested to waive the interest on our loan. “

MP Singh says that if this situation continues for a few more months, hundreds of people like him will be ruined. There are many such PGs in Aliganj area of ​​Lucknow too and most of them are empty these days.

Big center for competitive exams

In addition to the EMI of the loan, the landlords have to pay electricity bills and maintenance expenses separately at the commercial rate.

Students make a major contribution to the economy of Prayagraj city.

Badal Chatterjee, a retired IAS who grew up in the same city and has held several administrative positions, says, “The middle class and lower middle class people in this city are the main source of income for the students to rent a room so that many families Maintenance is done. Due to the university and the center of competitive examinations, there are many book shops here. Grocery shops, vegetable shops in many neighborhoods are run only by the students. The truth is that the local market here Much depends on the students. “

The directors of coaching institutes have also tried to take their problems to the government, but at present they do not see hope of relief.

What is the deputy CM of UP says

Coaching Association President Vijay Singh said that they had also met Deputy Chief Minister Dr Dinesh Sharma about this and asked for permission to run the institute but they flatly refused.

Deputy CM Dr Dinesh Sharma says in a conversation with BBC that coaching institutes should find a way to protect themselves in other mediums like online. Dr. Sharma says, “The atmosphere of class room teaching is not there yet. Therefore teaching cannot begin because it is risky and it is not right to play with children’s lives. I have suggested to them that there are many coaching institutes running abroad Therefore, these people should also explore new options. Give online coaching. Many people are also running. As far as financial help is concerned, how can we do this. Giving to one sector means that Then other industries will also demand it. It is not possible to provide economic package for different regions. “