New Delhi: One in five students in India supplements school education with private coaching, including almost one in three at the secondary school level or Classes IX and X, says the National Statistical Organisation (NSO) report.
According to NSO’s latest report on education, private coaching fees make up almost 20% of the total cost of education for those in secondary and higher secondary schools. However, in states like West Bengal, students actually spend more on private coaching than on their regular school.
The NSO report on education says that fees make up for almost 20% of the total cost of education.
With the COVID-19 situation in the country, apart from schools, coaching centres and private tuitions are also closed, with the exception of a few doing so online.
According to a report in The Hindu, the final report of the National Sample Survey, conducted between June 2017 and July 2018, published recently, says that 19.8 percent of students at all levels — from pre-primary to graduate students take some form of private coaching. Moreover, the rate is 30 percent more in the case of students of Class IX and X students.
The report also said that among the secondary school students, those from the cities and upper castes are able to access private coaching at far higher levels. More than 52% of urban upper-caste boys take coaching, while it is just 13.7% of rural boys and girls from scheduled tribe communities.
In terms of numbers, the average annual expenditure on education for secondary school students is Rs 9,013, of which Rs 4,078 goes towards regular school fees. About Rs 1,632, or just over 18%, goes towards private coaching. In higher secondary school, students spend more than Rs 2,500, also about 18% of the total expenditure, on private coaching, The Hindu reported.