Guwahati: A petition seeking to end what it describes as India’s “coaching Raj” and regulate the alleged nexus between private coaching centres and dummy schools is set to be listed before the Supreme Court.
The writ petition, filed by advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami, seeks directions to the Centre and other authorities to frame a national regulatory framework to curb the proliferation of dummy schools and align competitive entrance examinations with the prescribed school curriculum.
The petitioner argued that the existing system has created unequal educational opportunities by making private coaching a decisive factor in securing admission to professional courses.
“The present system creates a brutal two-tier structure. One India goes to expensive coaching centres, the other India sits in ordinary schools. This is not equality. It is a state-manufactured inequality,” the petition said.
The plea sought directions to dismantle the “parallel, unregulated, fee-driven private coaching ecosystem” and align the curriculum and testing patterns of national entrance examinations, including JEE, NEET, CLAT, CUET and SSC, with state-prescribed school syllabi.
The petition alleged that the dummy school system allows students to remain formally enrolled in schools while attending coaching institutes full-time, undermining the objectives of school education.
It contended that the practice confines students to coaching centres for long hours, adversely affecting their physical and mental health, and amounted to a violation of the right to education under Article 21A of the Constitution.
Describing the dominance of the private coaching industry as a “national constitutional emergency”, the petitioner argued that the existing system disproportionately affects students from economically weaker sections, rural areas and socially disadvantaged communities.
The plea also alleged a nexus involving private coaching institutes, dummy schools, examination bodies and regulatory authorities.
The Union government, National Testing Agency (NTA), CBSE, NCERT, National Medical Commission (NMC), IIT Council, Bar Council of India (BCI), Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and state governments have been made respondents in the case.
The petition relied on official documents, including the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for Regulation of Coaching Centres issued in January 2024, the Central Consumer Protection Authority’s guidelines on misleading advertisements by coaching centres and reports of committees on examination reforms, to argue that existing measures remain non-binding and inadequate.