Nearly 400 coaching centres closed after Covid-19 outbreak in GB Nagar

Prince Sharma had a booming business till March last year - three coaching centres for students of classes 6 to 12 in different sectors in Noida that got him and his brothers ₹1

Prince Sharma had a booming business till March last year - three coaching centres for students of classes 6 to 12 in different sectors in Noida that got him and his brothers ₹1.5 lakh a month. But after the Covid-19 outbreak, they had to shut down most of their operations. They now provide home tuitions to some students in Sector 12.

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“We paid the monthly rent of ₹25,000 for each centre to our landlords till October last year from my savings. But after that, we lost hope due to the repeated lockdowns. Now we earn less than ₹50,000,” he said.

Ramesh Kumar of Sector 49 used to run a coaching centre in a multi-storey building. Now, he works as an assistant in a private company in phase-2. The building he once rented is now a hotel.

“I tried my level best to run the institute but could not manage the rents and fixed electricity charges. So, I surrendered. I’ve now started working at a call centre that gives me ₹ 20,000 per month,” he said. He earned ₹75,000 a month earlier from his mathematics and physics tuition classes for students of class 8 to 10.

Nearly 700 coaching centres had been operating in the district before Covid-19 that employed 10,000 teachers to provide additional coaching in English, mathematics, the various sciences, accountancy and economics. Some even provided coaching for various competitive examinations like engineering and medical.

Now, according to Suraj Kumar Singh, who runs a coaching centre in sector 62, there are just around 300 institutes left, of which most are big brands in this field. Most teachers, Singh added, have gone back to their native places.

Jitendra Yadav still runs his coaching centre in Sector 18. He had decided to adopt online teaching method to counter the lockdown but said the response has been less than encouraging.

“Before the pandemic, there were over 300 students registered to my coaching. But, now it has been reduced to 50. Since most of the students do not come from well-off families, their parents are paying only 50% of the monthly fees for online classes. We don’t have any association through which we can highlight our plights to the administration,” he said.

Parents are not happy with the situation either. Dinesh Awana, a parent in sector 62, said that the online classes have hampered the academic and social growth of the children.

“My son was a good student and badminton players. The pandemic has compelled him to be at home all the time, making his life monotonous. We really want to send our children to schools and coaching classes for regular classes, but the fear of successive waves of Covid-19 don’t permit us to risk their lives,” he said.

Dipesh Rajput, a parent from sector 21, said that monotony after the Covid-19 outbreak has turned his daughter short-tempered.

“She used to attend music classes but now she is getting only tips from her teacher online. She has given up practising. When I ask her to do so, she either starts yelling or crying,” he said.

Even the students don’t seem much comfortable with online classes. Deepika Mishra, a class-11 students, said that online classes don’t give opportunity for exploring the subjects. “I usually solve mathematics and science questions from advanced books. When I raise some questions from those books, the teachers say that it’s out of syllabus. During regular classes, most of these questions were solved in group discussion with friends. Phone and computer can never be the replacements for regular classes,” she said.