BENGALURU: In what could be a major crackdown on high-pressure coaching centres, the Karnataka government has issued draft rules that bar children under 15 years of age from enrolling in private coaching institutes and restrict daily tutorial operations to fixed hours between 6 am and 9 pm.The proposed Karnataka Tutorial Institutions or Coaching Centre (Registration and Regulation) Rules, 2026, notified by the Higher Education Department on Wednesday aim to curb rising academic stress, misleading advertisements, and non-refundable fee traps across the state.Under the draft norms, private coaching centres are strictly prohibited from admitting students who are below 15 years of age or who have not completed their secondary school (Class 10) examinations. To prevent exhaustion and mental pressure among young learners, the state has capped total daily coaching—inclusive of tests, revision, and doubt-clearing sessions—to a maximum of 5 hours per day. Classes should be held between 6am-9pm.“The time of operation of the Tutorial Institutions shall be between 06:00 AM to 09:00 PM,” the official notification stated, adding that classes cannot be scheduled at unreasonably early morning or late night hours.Furthermore, institutes cannot conduct classes during regular school or college hours to prevent nominal attendance in mainstream schools.Currently, many coaching centres follow a model where students join dummy PU colleges and spend most of their days in coaching centres.The draft also mandates that the coaching centres have a mental health counselor and periodic workshops and sensitization sessions regarding mental health for students and parents are conducted.The coaching centres cannot make public the result of assessment test conducted by it, either within and beyond its premises. “Keeping the assessment test confidential, it should be used for regular analysis of performance of students and the student whose education performance is deteriorating, should be provided counselling as per the provisions of this guidelines,” the draft said.Tutors will have to undergo training in mental health issues to convey information effectively and sensitively to students about their areas of improvement. Apart from options for admission in engineering and medical institutes, information about other career options should be provided to the students, so that they do not get stressed about their future and can choose a new option of alternative careers.Coaching centres are also prohibited to employ faculty from government or an aided institution. It also cannot hire the services of any tutor who has been convicted for any offence involving moral turpitudeThere will be two district level monitoring committees: one for Bengaluru Urban District and another for the remaining districts of the state to monitor the functioning of these centres and to oversee compliance.This draft will replace the Karnataka Tutorial Institutions (Registration & Regulation) Rules, 2001.
