While schools have been allowed to resume offline classes from Monday, the state government order issued on Thursday was quiet about the functioning of thousands of coaching institutes across Maharashtra.
The Covid-19 pandemic has majorly hit the coaching centre industry. According to Maharashtra Class Owners Association (MCOA), 20,000 coaching centres have closed down after facing severe loss and more 30 per cent are on the verge of shutting shop.
“Across Maharashtra, we had 98,000 members before the pandemic. This clearly shows how the industry is bleeding. We have been patiently following government norms. But we are always ignored by the government when it comes to restarting operations,” said Santosh Waskar, president of Maharashtra Class Owners Association (MCOA).
He added that if the government failed to pay heed to their issues, the coaching centres will resume offline operations without its approval from next month. “Many coaching centres have been demanding that we start business. However, as an association we have taken a patient stand. Some may have started operations already. This clearly indicates that the ones following norms are suffering,” said Waskar.
“At the time of closing schools and colleges, coaching classes are specifically mentioned by the government… they are asked to stop offline operations. But when it comes to reopening, coaching centres are conveniently excluded from the government order. This has happened throughout the pandemic… whenever orders were issued by the government regarding closing or reopening of educational institutions,” said Bandopant Bhuyar, state president of the Coaching Classes Teachers’ Federation.
He shared how coaching centres play a pivotal role in the education sector and that the Union government has already recognised them as small businesses. “Yet, the state government has been ignoring coaching centres,” he said.