MP seeks to rein in coaching industry, impose safeguards for student well‑being

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh is moving to rein in the state’s sprawling private coaching sector with a draft Coaching Institute Regulation Act that seeks to curb arbitrary fee hikes, enforce safety and mental-health norms, and cap daily instruction hours. A bill will be tabled in the state assembly during the monsoon session.

The draft, prepared after mounting public concern over student stress and suicide, would require coaching centres to register at the district level and submit to oversight by district collectors. Officials said mandatory registration would create a formal record of institutes — a step activists say is long overdue in cities.

Under the proposal, fees must be transparent and protected: institutes would be barred from raising fees mid-course and would have to refund fees on a pro-rata basis within 10 days if a student leaves or transfers. The move addresses long-standing grievances from parents who, in the absence of standardized registration, have struggled to obtain refunds or redress for abrupt course changes.

The draft also sets clear age and educational thresholds. Institutes would be prohibited from admitting students below 16 years of age or those who have not passed the 10th class, a measure aimed at preventing the early, intensive academic pressure that critics link to mental-health declines.

Advertising controls form another pillar. The draft seeks to outlaw misleading claims such as “100 per cent selection” guarantees and would make it punishable to use students’ names or photographs in promotional material without written consent.

Mental-health provisions are central to the draft. Institutes would be required to provide psychological counselling services and furnish students with information about alternative career pathways. Proponents say these steps respond directly to recent episodes that have alarmed families and civil-society groups: multiple high-profile student suicides over the past five years in urban coaching corridors prompted protests and calls for government action.

Infrastructure and working-hour limits are also specified. Centres would need to meet basic norms for classroom space, ventilation and safety, while classes would be barred from operating at excessively early morning or late-night hours — a practice blamed for student fatigue. The draft further imposes restrictions on student-to-teacher ratios, responding to past complaints about overcrowded batches in popular centres.

State officials cite data showing a steady rise in coaching enrolment across the state’s education hubs over the last decade, correlating with intensified competition for professional and entrance exams. While local authorities have registered isolated complaints and consumer-court cases against institutes, there has been no comprehensive regulatory framework until now.

If adopted, the Coaching Institute Regulation Act would mark a significant regulatory shift in Madhya Pradesh, aiming to balance parental demand for supplemental tuition with safeguards for student welfare and accountability. The draft will now be reviewed before the government considers introducing it in the state assembly.