One-Fifth of students in Gujarat opt for private coaching

One in every five students in Gujarat, from pre-primary to higher secondary levels, takes private tuitions, according to the Union government’s latest report, Comprehensive Modular Survey: Education, 2025. The survey shows that 20.8% of students in the state depend on coaching outside school, a figure lower than the national average of 27%.Gujarat ranks 16th among all states and Union Territories in terms of students availing private coaching. Tripura leads the list with 78.6% of its students opting for tuitions, followed by West Bengal (74.6%) and Odisha (57.1%). At the other end of the spectrum, Mizoram (2.4%), Ladakh (2.8%), and Chhattisgarh (4.5%) recorded the lowest share of students in private coaching.
The survey highlights a rising trend in private tuitions as students progress through school. In Gujarat, 4.4% of pre-primary students — including junior KG and senior KG — attend tuitions, despite their young age. The share rises to 18.1% at the primary level (Class 1–5), 21.5% at the middle level (Class 6–8), 31.4% at the secondary level (Class 9–10), and peaks at 35.5% in higher secondary (Class 11–12).The state has more than 1.2 crore students enrolled across 32,000 government schools, nearly 5,000 grant-in-aid schools, and about 15,000 private schools,according to information.Educationists say the growing reliance on private coaching reflects gaps in classroom teaching and increasing academic pressure.

Experts attribute the trend to a range of factors, including schools focusing on syllabus completion rather than conceptual understanding, parental pressure for better academic performance, and the inability of working parents to dedicate sufficient time to supervise their children’s studies.Bhaskar Patel, Chairman of the Gujarat State School Management Association, urged the state government to enforce the Union government’s guidelines prohibiting tuition enrolment for students below the age of 14. “The state government should strictly ban tuition classes from enrolling students below 14. The education department must also ensure that all tuition centres provide a safe environment for children,” Patel said.The report also highlights the rising cost of education across school types in Gujarat. At the pre-primary level, annual expenditure per student is Rs 15,725 in aided schools compared to Rs 27,049 in private schools. For primary education, the average stands at Rs 17,235 in aided schools and Rs 39,761 in private schools.At the middle school level, the figures are Rs 15,962 in aided schools and Rs 36,450 in private institutions. For secondary students, parents spend Rs 14,878 in aided schools versus Rs 40,031 in private ones. Expenditure rises further at the higher secondary level, with Rs 22,694 in aided schools and Rs 49,405 in private schools.

(State Correspondent)