India’s booming coaching industry faces scrutiny as exam leaks fuel student anger
In the final instalment of a three-part series, CNA looks at India’s booming private tuition scene, where fierce competition for coveted university places is fuelling a high-pressure coaching culture.
India's private tutoring industry is booming, driven by families' aspiration for their children to become doctors, lawyers, or engineers. However, a series of exam paper leaks have put the industry under intense scrutiny. In one instance, the leak of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) questions led to over two million students having to retake the exam.
This scandal sparked a protest movement led by Gen Z, which eventually forced the education minister to resign. While the public anger has primarily focused on failures by education authorities, experts argue that the private tuition industry has received far less scrutiny. Indian education activist Pradeep Poonia highlighted cases where industry players were linked to exam paper leaks, including the NEET exam in May.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested the owner of a coaching institute in Latur city after recovering questions matching those in the actual examination. The intense competition around NEET has created a market for leaked material, with prices ranging from 1 million to 1.2 million rupees ($10,500 to $12,500). For 17-year-old Shaikh Sidra Mudassar, who is preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), the recent situation has intensified her frustration with an "unfair and exhausting" system.
She said that students are expected to study for more than 10 hours every day to achieve good scores, with some even cramming for up to 16 hours a day. The private tutoring market in India is estimated to be worth nearly $15 billion and is expected to reach at least $23 billion by 2030.
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