Coaching Academies: More of Rendezvous Than Academic Spots?

WEB DESK: Tuition classes and coaching academies have sprung up all over Pakistan and are thriving well.

Coaching academies have managed to retain school and college students in their tight grip.

Taking regular classes in coaching centers and bypassing school and colleges is trending among students. Most of the students join them out of peer pressure.

Teachers are undoubtedly the most important members of society. They mould the personality of their students, set them up for success in their lives, and guide them to be competent in their fields.

A college teacher S*, requesting anonymity, while talking to News 360 expressed her concerns for the future of students.

According to her, coaching centers have become amusement clubs and rendezvous besides educational spots.

Coaching centers entice students to join by offering entertainment-packed packages. A number of them offer yearly picnics, musical nights, and a lot more.

Teachers can be friendly but they should not be friends with their students, S* affirmed as she commented on extra-curricular activities in the centers.

An excess of these types of centers in the country has prompted people to question the quality of education being provided by the coaching academies.

Apart from extra-curricular activities with education, coaching academies are witnessed with a stark male dominance when it comes to the faculty.

Mostly, the teachers are male as female teachers cannot afford late sittings in the centers that are usually offering classes late till up to 10 pm, she added.

S* lamented that the coaching centers are becoming more commercial than professional.

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Institutions long ago used to hire competent teachers and workers, now the tables have turned.

Only those teachers that are associated with big names are hired on heavy salaries.

Another thing that has been noticed is that the Institutions hire teachers in ‘bundle-packages’.

The educators have formed groups and wherever they join a new institution, they move along with their ‘crew’.

This mounting trend of coaching institutions is having repercussions on regular school and college classes.

However, a better way to analyze any issue is to focus on both sides of the mirror.

News 360 interviewed Ahmed Saya, Best-Teacher award holder from Cambridge University, to discuss the other side of the story regarding male dominance in institutions.

There is no denying that female teachers have responsibilities at home as well. They usually don’t prefer to work in the second shifts after finishing their duties in the morning unlike male educators, Ahmed Saya explained.

He further added that female teachers don’t prefer to teach in coaching centers due to late working hours.

Educational institutions are meant to give quality education and to serve as a support system for weak students. If they are unsuccessful in doing so then it is unfair, Saya claimed.

However, he said that co-curricular activities along with studies were harmless. They can boost a child’s performance, the expert contended.

In today’s era of fierce competition, coaching academies can be of vital importance for the students who need support in their studies. However, more should be focused on academics than other activities, unlike prevailing fashion.

Any educational institution that fails to achieve the core target of providing education must be unlisted and penalized.