The 22 lakh students who appeared for NEET alone have spent Rs 1.32 lakh crore in a year.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi has cornered the coaching industry and the government together. He said that 22 lakh students who appeared for NEET alone have spent Rs 1.32 lakh crore in a year. He also said that the total annual budget of education of the Central Government is not that much. It is necessary to independently verify these allegations, but it is certain that the coaching industry has taken a big form in the country. Now different coaching institutes are available in the cities of the country for Civil Services, NEET, Engineering, SSC, Banking, Railways, Army recruitment etc.
Let us try to understand in the name of Rahul Gandhi’s attack, how big is the coaching industry? How has the coaching industry running in the country for preparation of competitive exams like NEET, JEE, UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railways and Army, become a parallel education system today?
How big is the coaching market?
The estimated current market of coaching industry in India is estimated to be around Rs 58-65 thousand crores. Some other agencies including Emark Group say that the coaching industry is growing at an annual rate of 10.3 percent. It is expected to reach Rs 1.5 lakh crore by the year 2034. Some independent analyzes and media reports claim that if all the coaching centers and tuitions, big and small, are included, students and their families are spending around Rs 3.5 lakh crore every year on major competitive exams. Although these figures cannot be confirmed, this amount definitely confirms that the matter is in crores. And the government education system is very poor.
Rahul Gandhi raised questions.
What is the gap with the budget of the education department?
The budget of the Union Ministry of Education, Government of India for the financial year 2025-26 is approximately Rs 1,28,650 crore. This includes the budget of both school education and higher education. If both are compared, it is clear that there is a manifold difference between the Central Budget and the estimated budget of coaching. This figure is shocking. Because it shows that Indian parents are spending almost three times more money from their own pockets on coaching compared to the government education system. This parallel education system is taking a toll on the actual budget.
How much does it cost for a child?
The cost of coaching depends on the nature of the examination and the city of the institute. Still, the average expenditure of a student can be considered to be something like this.
- NEET and JEE: In coaching hubs like Kota in Rajasthan, the annual fee for a child ranges between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. If we add the expenses of living, food and hostel to this, then it reaches Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per year.
- UPSC: The average coaching fee for a student in Old Rajendra Nagar or Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi is Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh annually. One year’s preparation along with living expenses costs a student Rs 4 to 5 lakh.
- SSC and Banking: Preparation for these exams is comparatively cheap. It is available on online platforms for Rs 5 to 20 thousand. 30 to 60 thousand rupees are spent annually on their offline coaching.
Rahul Gandhi raised questions in Kota.
Which state’s children spend the most?
States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana are at the forefront in terms of spending. The reason for this is the huge demand for government jobs in these states and passion for medical and engineering. In terms of planned expenditure, Kota and Delhi are the main centers where students come from other states and invest money. Coaching is also going on in the capitals and big cities of every state of North India. Children from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana also invest heavily in JEE and NEET coaching in South India.
Coaching institutes and their dominance in statistics
The coaching industry is no longer limited to small rooms only, rather it has become the business of big corporate houses. You can see some examples. These sample figures available are enough to show that the coaching industry has now become quite big.
- Aakash Education: Its value is in billions. This is the largest company of medical coaching. It has centers across the country. When Byju’s bought Akash, its value was estimated at Rs 7300 crore.
- Physics one: This edtech company of Alakh Pandey has shaken the entire market by making coaching cheaper. Still, their offline expansion has increased rapidly under the name Vidyapeeth. As a unicorn startup, it is valued at more than $1.1 billion. Its revenue in the financial year 2023 is said to be around Rs 780 crore.
- Vajiram & Ravi, Vision IAS: The annual revenue of these institutions in the field of UPSC is in crores. The top 5-6 institutions of Delhi alone capture 40 percent of this market.
- Allen Career Institute: This institute based in Kota has its reach in many parts of the country. Its reach reaches lakhs of students. It is said that its annual revenue is several thousand crores.
Authentic reports also confirm
Many global and local reports on the coaching industry confirm its expansion. Technavio’s report says that the test preparation market in India will grow by several billion dollars by 2030. A study by the Economic and Political Weekly shows that coaching has now become a core part of education, not just additional help, due to which educational inequality is increasing. Old surveys of the Ministry of Statistics also show that more than 25 percent of students in India are taking private coaching, and in some states in urban areas this figure is more than 50 percent.
In simple words, the coaching industry has become such an essential need today that it is absorbing a large part of the savings of the middle class. While the government budget aims to streamline infrastructure, the private coaching industry is thriving on the promise of selling results. This gap is a big challenge for future education policy. The government will have to think that if everything is fine in our education system then why do students need these coaching institutes?
Also read: Why are Rahul Gandhi’s challenges in politics tougher than Nehru-Indira?
