Bihar to have law to monitor coaching institutes

PATNA - After violent protests by students here against fleecing by coaching institutes, the state government has decided to make a new law to monitor and regulate the functioning of private coaching institutes.

Bihar Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Hari Narayan Singh Thursday said the government plans to bring a new bill in the state legislature for monitoring private coaching institutes.

“The bill will be introduced during the forthcoming budget session of the state assembly in February itself,” Singh told IANS here.

HRD Principal Secretary Anjani Kumar said the law will be the first of its kind in the country to prevent innocent students from falling prey to false promises made by coaching institutes. “The government will make registration mandatory for all coaching institutes,” he said.

Singh said: “The aim of the proposed law is to regulate coaching institutes and minimise exploitation of students.”

Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had directed top officials to look into how to monitor and regulate coaching institutes.

There are over 5,000 private coaching institutes in Patna, operating without any surveillance.

“Running coaching institutes has become a lucrative business here as people with vested interests are minting money by duping students in the name of providing quality education,” a Patna college lecturer said on condition of anonymity.

Students in Patna protested for the last two days against fleecing by coaching institutes. The protests turned violent and one class 12 student was killed Tuesday.