Tuition Culture Rampant In Rural Odisha: Report

Bhubaneswar: Attending tuition to enhance academic score is no longer an urban phenomenon. A significant number of students in rural Odisha too, fall back on paid classes and 54 per cent of the private school students between Class VI and VIII pay more than Rs 300 every month for the same, a recently released study has revealed.

The Annual Status of Education Report, has revealed that tuition classes continue to dominate the collective aspirations of students right from Class 1 onwards. There has only been an insignificant decline, compared to previous years, in the inclination for paid classes beyond school hours. The report, without doubt, reflects poorly on the status of education in Odisha, where even Class II or III students of government schools go for tuition to better their performance.

Despite belonging to economically weaker sections, parents do not mind spending more than Rs 200 a month for children who have not even stepped into high school. The report said over 30 per cent of students between Class I and V pay Rs 300 or more for tuition every month. Similarly, 54 per cent private school students between Class VI and VIII dole out Rs 300 or above every month.

Talking about the all India trend, the report said that 21 per cent students of government school between Class VI and VIII take tuition. Over 34 per cent in private schools pay in excess of Rs 300 per month.

The findings fly in the face of the government’s attempt to reduce the burden on students and confining their hours of study within the school hours only. The finding also demolishes the narrative, even if limited in scale, about the positive impact of Right to Education (RTE) in classes. One of the cornerstones of RTE was holistic development of students through continuous and comprehensive evaluation process in the classroom, which would have eliminated the necessity for private classes. But the study has exposed the limitations of RTE. There has been no significant drop in students taking tuitions since the RTE was enacted in 2009. The tuition culture remains the same.

The report has highlighted how 72 per cent of Class VIII students in rural Odisha fail to read a Class II level text. According to it, over 42 per cent of the Class VIII students are unable to do simple division. When it comes to subtraction, 20 per cent fail. If we talk about numbers between 10-99, 29 per cent of the students fail to recognise them.