Even if the Uttarakhand Government allows the coaching centres of the State to resume classes from the next month, it is unlikely that the students will join the classes before the next year. While stating this, the president of Uttarakhand Coaching and Library Association (UCLA), Savindra Singh, added that there are no major competitive exams in the next three months due to which most of the students might not return this year. “These are the times when most of the students used to go back to their hometowns to be with their families due to approaching festivals like Deepawali. Now all the students have already returned to their homes months ago and the festival season is approaching too. Besides, there are no crucial competitive exams for which they will have to specially return and rent a room for a month and then return to their families. Therefore, we are not optimistic that our business will pick up this year,” said Singh.
Talking about the operation of classes online, Singh said that since most of the students of the State hail from mountainous regions, they have to face internet connectivity issues. Also, many students are not interested in studying through online sessions as they prefer physical interaction with a teacher, added Singh. “Technology might be the answer to many businesses in the current pandemic situation but it is not so in our case. In our state, less than 10 per cent coaching centres are teaching online because not everyone has resources to provide online sessions and even with those who have set up the online classes, very few students are joining them,” stated Singh. He also expressed his disappointment with the State Government which according to him is encouraging locals to resume or start their businesses under several schemes but does not bring all the coaching institutes under Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) which would help several operators of small coaching institutes in the current crisis.
Moreover, the operators of the coaching institutes said that the government has not said anything clearly regarding the resumption of the coaching institutes in October. If the government will allow operation of the coaching institutes and though they know the number of students attending classes will be less, it will be great to start the classes after months and to prepare for the upcoming new batches of the next year from January, said the owners of coaching centers.
Tuesday, 08 September 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
