Maha govt to Bombay HC: Just 1 college has tie-up with coaching class

In its affidavit, the government said it did find Rao IIT Academy conducting classes for JEE and CET at TP Bhatia College in Kandivli following which it asked the college to shut down the classes on its premises...

The state government has asked a Kandivli college to stop a private coaching classes from teaching students on the college premises, even as it didn't find any evidence of 'integrated coaching' in three other city colleges it inspected.

Integrated coaching refers to the practice of colleges and coaching classes joining hands to prepare Class 11 and 12 students for medical and engineering entrance examinations, often on the college premises. (Rep pic/HT)

Integrated coaching refers to the practice of colleges and coaching classes joining hands to prepare Class 11 and 12 students for medical and engineering entrance examinations, often on the college premises. The students are enrolled in the college, but attend only lectures conducted by the tutorial.

In March, the Maharashtra Coaching Classes Owners Association (MCCOA) had filed a petition in Bombay High Court (HC) against the practice, naming four city colleges for allowing private coaching classes to use their premises. They argued that the utilisation of junior college and school facilities by private tuition violates the state's Secondary School Code. On Friday, HC had asked government to file a response to the petition.

In its affidavit filed on Monday, the government said that it inspected all the four colleges, but didn't find any wrongdoing at Wilson College at Girgaum Chowpatty, Ram Ratan Mahavidyalaya in Bhayander and MJ Junior College in Borivli. However, the government did find Rao IIT Academy conducting classes for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and Common Entrance Test (CET) at TP Bhatia College in Kandivli and asked the college to close down the classes on its premises.

The petitioners said that they are not satisfied with the government’s response. They said that the integrated coaching is a widespread trend, not limited to four colleges. “TP Bhatia College is just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of colleges which have tied up with coaching classes. We want the government to act against all these colleges,” said Narendra Bhamabawani, vice president, MCCOA.

Meanwhile, Vinay Kumar, managing director, Rao IIT Academy, refuted the complaints that it was operating within the college premises. "Integrated coaching doesn’t necessarily mean using college facilities. Rather it's about offering coaching in sync with a particular college. We had rented a separate building of college. The city-based classes are targeting us because they are losing students," he said.

What are integrated courses?

Integrated courses combine school/college syllabus and coaching for competitive examinations for admission to technical institutions. These are offered by colleges entering into a tie-up with coaching institutes or by the coaching institutes itself

In Mumbai, more than 30 colleges offer integrated courses, which are usually for coaching students for engineering and medical exams. Some also offer coaching for commerce students to crack entrances tests for chartered accountancy, secretarial practice and architecture for science.

Types of integrated courses

Classes are held in the coaching institute: Here students only attend regular college for practicals and exams

Coaching institutes’ faculty coach students in the college campus: These classes have separate timings that don’t clash with regular classes. College faculty only teaches languages apart from a few other subjects.