PUNE: Coaching classes, especially those training students for board examinations, have taken a big hit due to the lockdown with as many as 20,000 of the one lakh institutes across Maharashtra shutting down over financial problems.
The Maharashtra Coaching Classes Action Committee, a collective of six major coaching associations, has decided to start operations of coaching classes from June 21.
The associations said if theatres and malls are allowed to reopen at 50% capacity then their educational institutions should also be given priority and classes should be given permission to function with the same restrictions.
President of Coaching Classes Teachers’ Federation and Social Forum of Maharashtra Bandopant Bhuyar said, “Since the last 15 months, our classes have been shut completely.
This gave rise to a major financial crunch among the owners and they found it difficult to pay the salaries of the faculty members and non-teaching staff.
The rent for the premises also became a burden and to top all these there were recurring expenses such as daily expenses, light and water bills among others.
Many could not pay these bills and were forced to shut down forever.” The president of Maharashtra Class Owners’ Association Santosh Vaskar said, “Many coaching class owners had to sell off the movable assets and pay rent for the premises and yet they failed to sustain the effort.
Talks with the government to allow operations have failed and now the owners are losing patience.” President of the Association of coaching Institutes in Nagpur Rajnikant Bondre said they could follow a hybrid model where some subjects could be taught online and some offline to avoid crowding.
“Considering all the rules and regulations, we intend to start offline coaching from June 21 across Maharashtra.”
Maha: Nearly 20k coaching classes shut down in 15 months
