The tutorial classes and coaching academies that have sprung up all over the federal capital and are thriving well have managed to retain school and college students in its tight grip.
While parents continue to struggle under severe financial pressure to provide the “best coaching” to their children at the city’s prominent tuition centres, the latter continue to fleece them in the name of quality education. The trend has gained such alarming proportions that a major chunk of the annual budget of every family with one or more school-going children is spent on paying tuition fees. And, not surprisingly, nine out of 10 students studying in class 5 or above five are taking a least one private tuition.
Some of the greatest thinkers, scholars, philosophers, doctors, mathematicians and scientists in the history of mankind never attended a school during their childhood. Yet they went on to gain immense knowledge and imparted it to others too.
They were responsible for inventions, theories and contributions to society that not only left their mark in history but also often changed the way human beings thought and worked together. A coaching centre or a tuition centre, however, uses special teaching methods and attempts to prepare a student specifically for the exam he/she is planning to take.
An excess of these types of centres in the city has prompted people to question the quality of education they are providing, both in public and private sectors.
In some posh areas of the city, several tuition centres are also regular private schools in the mornings. Also, there are several smaller tuition centres in almost every residential area, which have been set up in houses and consist of one or two rooms. These are usually set up by schoolteachers or students at bachelor and intermediate levels to earn some extra money.
Students and parents believe that joining an academy or a tuition centre is a must for good grades. They think it is necessary to get the children admitted to a renowned academy for good performance in studies. They also argue that such institutions provide extra help and practice through test sessions that help students in preparing for their exams.
Bushra Erum, a student of class 10, told APP, “These academies and tuition centres provide good study material, like mock test papers that a student cannot easily get hold of in schools or colleges and all these factors help a student prepare better for a competitive examination.” She said that the most crucial advantage of taking up coaching is that one gets to know the paper pattern, questions asked in the previous exams as well as their solutions, which chapter or question should be given more importance etc.
She added, “These centres provide study material that includes a detailed syllabus, which is usually not covered in regular schools.” However, in some cases students merely join academies because of peer pressure or because of parents. Separately, most of the teachers hold students responsible for joining these centres. A secondary school teacher, Hina Akram, said, “Students just do not feel satisfied with whatever they have studied in the school, so in the evening they go to a nearby coaching institute to study that extra bit they feel they have missed.” She added, “Some young people who have hardly completed matriculation have opened tuition centres at their homes and provide low quality coaching. They are wasting their own time as well as students’ time and their money.” Hina said that scoring well should not be the only purpose of joining tuition centres. Getting good grades mainly depends on the caliber of a student, she said, adding, “Students feel that joining academies guarantees good grades and would relieve them of self-study.”
Most of the parents, however, appreciate their children’s joining academies and tuition centres. A mother, Rayan Qasim, said that these institutes are also a place where children can socialise. “It enhances a child’s social abilities through exchange of notes and books.” She said these centres effectively prepare a student for exams by regularly holding mock tests. Also, the students are made to submit assignments that also aid them in exams’ preparation.
