Vice President Dhankhar calls for urgent reform of coaching centre culture

New Delhi, Jul 12: Speaking at the 4th Convocation Ceremony of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Kota, Vice President JagdeepDhankhar issued a sharp critique of India’s coaching industry, calling it a “menace” that threatens to stifle curiosity and compromise the nation’s educational and technological future. “Coaching centres have turned out to be poaching centres. They have become black holes for talent in regimented silos,” Dhankhar said, describing the mushrooming of such institutions as “worrisomely concerning.” He emphasised the need to transform these centres into skill hubs, stating, “We must address this malice… Coaching centres must use their infrastructure to transform into skill centres.”

Decrying the current obsession with grades and rote learning, the Vice President warned against the psychological and intellectual toll of such systems. “The obsession with perfect grades and standardised scores have compromised curiosity, which is an inalienable facet of human intelligence,” he said. “They prepare the minds of students for years together and robotise them. Their thinking has absolutely stymied.” Dhankhar linked the rise of coaching culture to a wider distortion of educational values, referencing even India’s constitutional imagery. “Among the 22 visual depictions in the Indian Constitution, there is also an image of a Gurukul. We have always believed in the donation of knowledge.”

The Vice President also spoke about the dangers of treating education as an industrial process. “We must end this assembly-line culture, because this culture is very dangerous for our education. Coaching centres are against the flow of the National Education Policy,” he said. Advertising practices by such centres also came under scrutiny: “Money is poured into billboards and advertisements… alluring, but they are eyesores for our civilizational ethos.” Calling for a break from the culture of cramming, he said, “We are facing the crisis of cramming culture which has transformed vibrant minds into mechanical repositories of temporary information… It is creating intellectual zombies rather than creative thinkers.” The ceremony was also attended by HaribhauKisanraoBagde, Governor of Rajasthan; Lt. Gen. (Retd.) A.K. Bhatt, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIIT; Prof. N.P. Padhy, Director of IIIT Kota; and other dignitaries.