The Condition of Coaching Classes in Nagpur

An overview of the challenges faced and their responses which eventually make or break them.

Until the end of 2019, coaching classes or tuition classes as a business was one of the highly booming industries. Yes, I’ll use the term industry because some unruly agents in the early 2010’s, with vast amounts of capital and world-class marketers, turned this simple tutoring to the weak students into a business model for endless profits. It has reached a point where almost every child has to learn the same thing they were taught in the school, again at coaching classes, no matter their self-study capability.

There are many people to be blamed for this predicament of the education sector, but many things changed after the pandemic hit the country.

There were several problems faced by the owners and teachers of these coaching classes from small to midsize in our city Nagpur too. Some fought back and remained relevant, and some had to close up shop.

Here are some of the challenges –

1. The Big Conglomerates –

They are the biggest reason for the downfall of hundreds of small tuition classes to close down. These institutes saw an opportunity in the education sector in the early last decade. Then received a massive influx of investment from the wealthy and set up their classes in Kota, which later became a hub for educational institutes in India; and consequently branched out to the rest of the country. Then the digital revolution took over, and the pandemic with its social distancing norms just concreted the place of online learning in the education sector. Since then, significant venture capital firms are investing heavily in education-related start-ups and, combined with their guerrilla marketing and sales teams, are enticing students and parents in every way possible. Cramping hundreds of students in one class gives the result one might expect. These profit-focused institutes even go to lengths, where out of a thousand students they have, they will focus entirely on the fifty top-performing ones and slightly ignore the rest. It doesn’t go on to say that their teaching and methods are in any way sub-par. Still, once upon a time, the very reason for tuition classes was individual attention. This modern culture prevailing in the market has led to a disconnect between students and teachers. In an intimate setting, with one teacher for every thirty to fifty students makes a huge difference, as the teacher can pinpoint what every single student needs improvement in and help them a certain way.

2. Technological Advancements and Adapting to The New Situation –

The technological progress we see right now in the education sector was inevitable, but its acceleration is a pandemic courtesy. The new format where there’s a screen between the teacher and student is great, given the current situation, but it comes at the cost of human touch and lack of monitoring. Also, the cost of setting up professional IT systems in place for the smooth functioning of online learning is sky-high since the demand has increased. Hence the coaching classes who could afford to put in place systems have prevailed over those who couldn’t. Some tried makeshift creative home solutions to it, but it always affected the teaching quality, which prompts the students to leave. And this doesn’t even consider the scenario that if the students can afford the necessary gadgets and internet connection to avail these services. Even when the usual face-to-face teaching method starts, online education would still be a significant competitor to physical coaching classes. So, a comprehensive model consisting of both is the way to go for future-oriented development.

3. Absence of Fixed Income –

The previous two problems are the determinant factors for this one. Most teachers kickstart these tuition classes in India by renting some rooms or just converting an existing space at their own homes into a classroom. So not providing online learning services during this time led to students’ apparent falling behind in their studies, forcing their parents to forego the remaining fees or leave the tuition class. And this absence of a fixed income makes it difficult for the owners to cover the day-to-day costs. And this leads to stunted growth with little to no scope for revival. This capital issue doesn’t affect the large private institutions with several investors, who swiftly upgrade their systems to work with online portals seamlessly. All of their books and modules are encrypted to stop piracy, and they even cater to students with no internet connection by selling pen drives with all of the recorded classes. This variety of services is tough to compete with, but with skillful financial maneuvering and effective management, survival can be won over.

4. High Student Turnover –

This is similar to employee turnover at corporations, which means most small-sized coaching classes fail to retain their good students for a long time and lose them to big brands in the business. The root of this problem is scholar students who still take coaching to improve their rankings further. As shallow as it may sound, but they are the face of the institute and bring in the “quality” crowd. As per most teachers’ experiences, their teaching and interest level goes down when these quality students start disappearing. So, when they do well in exams, they are marketed via billboards and newspaper advertisements to validate their teaching styles and methods. Now, the prominent educational institutes try to lure the scholars into studying at their institute, promising them scholarships, subsidized residence, and even good colleges at times just to poach them for their successful image, which brings in more scholars. This simply leaves the small-sized coaching institutes to suffice with whichever students they have and mold them the best way they can for achievements. Even though an old saying goes that it’s easy to teach scholars to excel, the real challenge lies in improving students with below-average grades to something they themselves can be proud of. These practices are industry standard at this point, and swimming against this current of negativity requires an immense value of ethics and morals. Still, if teachers start realizing their effect on the country’s betterment, the future won’t look this bleak.

These challenges were a part of the story of every teacher and owner of any mid-size coaching class during the pandemic. But with effective management of existing resources and disaster management skills, it’s possible to stay in business and still care about society’s basic needs. Patil’s Classes is one of the few examples in Nagpur to show how it’s done.