Parliament Question: Student centric norms in Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1311 ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026 Student centric norms in Maharashtra 1311 Dr. Medha Vishram Kulkarni: Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state: (a) whether Government is aware that Government of Maharashtra has recently issued comprehensive directions to private coaching centres and schools aimed at improving student well-being, including provisions for weekly offs, limits on daily teaching hours, mental-health counselling and grievance- redress mechanisms; (b) if so, the steps taken by the Ministry to examine and support the implementation of similar student- centric norms across other States and Union Territories; (c) whether any monitoring or evaluation mechanism has been put in place to assess the impact of such measures on student stress, mental health, and learning outcomes; and (d) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR) (a) to (d): Education is subject of concurrent list and both Central and State government work collaboratively to ensure comprehensive, and progressive enhancement of overall quality and growth within the education sector. Several States/UTs have brought out guidelines / regulations / legislations to regulate the Private Coaching and tuition classes in their respective States/UTs. Keeping in view the growth in number of unregulated private coaching centres in the country; instances of such centers charging exorbitant fees from students; loss of precious lives due to fire and other accidents and many other malpractices being adopted by these centres, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education (MoE) formulated a Guidelines for Regulation of Coaching Center and circulated it to States/UTs on 16.01.2024 for consideration and taking further action by way of appropriate legal framework. The guidelines for regulation of coaching centres are accessible at https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/Guideliens_Coaching_Centres_en.pdf The Guidelines encompass several key aspects, including specifying conditions and necessary documents for registration; mandating a weekly day off, capping daily teaching at five hours, and discouraging early-morning or late-evening classes; prescription of easy exit policy; reasonable fee & transparency; minimum basic proportionate infrastructure for adherence to the safety norms; code of conduct by coaching center; onboarding of counsellors and psychologists for student support; inclusivity and accessibility; maintenance of records and enquiry of activities; restriction on shifting ofCoaching Center; complaint and grievance redressal mechanism; provision of penalty; cancellation of registration; and procedure for appeal. Several initiatives have been undertaken to strengthen school-based learning. Under Samagra Shiksha, school education has been aligned with NEP 2020 to emphasize foundational literacy and numeracy, conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and regular formative assessments instead of rote learning. NIPUN Bharat focuses on building strong early reading, writing, and numeracy skills. Assessment reforms through PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), Holistic Progress Cards, and State Educational Achievement Survey (SEAS) help identify learning gaps early and support personalized interventions. Career counselling through Vidyanjali supports informed academic choices, reducing the pressure that drives coaching dependence. Initiatives like Vidya Shakti and digital platforms further strengthen subject understanding for rural and underserved students. Various State and UT governments are providing remedial classes to students for competitive exams. SATHEE is one such initiative of Central government, launched in November, 2023, to provide free of cost high-quality content for the competitive examinations like JEE and NEET, along with providing an online assessment module for students. It leverages Web Platform, Mobile Application, YouTube live sessions & DTH channels for delivery. Over 10,000 Hours of high-quality video lectures of curated learning content are available across topics and subjects for the learners. As of now, more than 17 lakh students are registered and 400 mentors are available on the platform. An initiative of Ministry of Education, MANODARPAN, covers a wide range of activities to provide psychological support to students, teachers and families for mental and emotional well-being such as National toll-free helpline to provide guidance to callers through trained counsellor; live interactive sessions ‘Sahyog’ and Webinars ‘Paricharcha’ that are organized regularly to create awareness about the importance of mental health among all stakeholders, students in all States/UTs etc. These sessions are telecast on PM e-Vidya channels and are also available on ‘NCERT Official’ YouTube Channel. In addition, to address the rise in stress, anxiety etc. among students, various initiatives are taken by many schools like sensitization through talks in morning assembly, adolescence education programmes, yoga games and sports, scouts and Guides, NCC, Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat. Students are also involved in setting up School Nutrition Gardens (SNGs) in the school through which the students learn life skills and they are also connected to nature. UGC has issued Guidelines for Promotion of Physical Fitness, Sports, Student’s Health, Welfare, Psychological and Emotional Well- being at HEIs on 13.04.2023, which provide for promoting physical fitness and sports activities for students; creating safeguards against academic pressure, peer pressure, behavioral issues, stress, career concerns, depression and other issues on the mental health of students; to teach positive thinking & emotions in the student community; and to promote a positive and supportive network for students. The Ministry on 10.07.2023 has also circulated a broad framework for emotional and mental well- being of students in HEIs with direction to all Centrally Funded Institutions to develop institutional mechanism to address the emotional and mental wellbeing of students in HEIs. *****