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In January 2024 the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education issued Guidelines for Regulation of Coaching Center. They set out who a coaching centre may enrol, when classes may run, and how fees and refunds should work. If your child is in Class 8, 9 or 10, here is what the rules say and how to check a centre before you pay.
What do the coaching centre guidelines say about students below 16?
The Ministry of Education guidelines say a coaching centre shall not enrol a student below 16 years of age, or, in the same line, that enrolment should be only after the secondary school examination, which for most students means the Class 10 board exam.
The same document defines a coaching centre as one that coaches more than 50 students, so a tuition class with 50 or fewer students falls outside that definition.
These are model guidelines: the document notes that education is on the concurrent list and asks States and Union Territories to adopt them through their own laws, so what is enforceable depends on your state. Some states, including Bihar, Goa and Uttar Pradesh, already had coaching laws before 2024.
What class timings do the rules allow?
Clause 10.1 of the guidelines sets the daily rhythm:
Coaching for school students should not run during school hours, so school attendance is not affected and to avoid dummy schools.
Classes should not be more than 5 hours a day, and neither too early in the morning nor too late in the evening.
Students and tutors get a weekly off, with no test on the day after it.
During important regional festivals, centres should arrange leave so students can be with their families.
What do the guidelines say about fees and refunds?
Clause 8 of the guidelines says fees must be fair and reasonable, with receipts. The centre must issue a prospectus listing each course, its duration, the number of classes, hostel facilities, fees, the exit policy and the refund policy. Notes and study material should come without a separate fee, and the fee you enrolled on cannot be raised during the course.
If a student has paid in full and leaves midway, the centre should refund the fee for the remaining period on a pro-rata basis within 10 days, plus hostel and mess fees if the student stays in the centre's hostel.
For example, say you paid ₹1,20,000 upfront for a 12-month course and your child leaves after 4 months. Pro-rata means the refund matches the unused share of the course: 8 of 12 months, so ₹1,20,000 × 8 ÷ 12 = ₹80,000, due back to you within 10 days.
Our guide to reading a coaching fee refund policy goes through the fine print.
How can parents check a coaching centre before enrolling?
Take this checklist, built from clauses 6 to 12 of the Ministry guidelines, on your visit:
Age: does the centre take students below 16 or before Class 10 boards? It should not.
Wording: centres should call themselves a "registered coaching center", never "recognized" or "approved".
Disclosure: the website should list tutor qualifications, courses, fees, the refund policy, and how many students joined and how many got into higher education institutions.
Tutors: each should be at least a graduate.
Timetable: no clash with school hours, no more than 5 hours a day, and a weekly off.
Promises: any guarantee of a rank or marks is a red flag, because the guidelines bar misleading promises.
Batches: size fixed in the prospectus, no splitting by marks, and test results kept confidential.
Care and safety: about one square metre of space per student, a fire and building safety certificate, a counselling system and a complaints committee.
At the counter, you can say: "What is the minimum age or class for this batch? Which hours will my child be here on a school day? If we leave after three months, how much do we get back and how soon? Please show me that in writing, with your registration certificate."
Where a state has adopted the guidelines, complaints go to a competent authority and should be settled within thirty days, with penalties of ₹25,000 for a first offence, ₹1,00,000 for a second, and cancellation of registration after that. For teaching quality, see how to evaluate a coaching institute.
What if your child is under 16 and wants coaching now?
The guidelines offer no coaching route below 16, so for Classes 8 to 10 the focus stays on school. Our post on what to do when a child wants coaching in Class 6 walks through that conversation. If what your child wants is more practice at home, the Fermi Problem Library has worked problems with a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning rather than printing an answer.
If coaching pressure is weighing on your child, talk to the school counsellor or your family doctor. Tele MANAS, the Health Ministry's free 24x7 mental health helpline, is on 14416 or 1800-891-4416.
Before you sign, read the age, timing and refund clauses together.
