Students wishing to settle or study abroad have reason to rejoice, as the state government has allowed centers offering International English Language Testing System (IELTS) guidance to resume classes. physical for students who can provide vaccination certificates.
Coaching centers were closed on April 20 after the state recorded a significant increase in the number of cases. The government’s decision has been hailed by owners of coaching centers, who are eager to get the business back on track.
An owner of a coaching center, who did not wish to be named, said: “We have already informed the students of the resumption of physical classes and are cleaning up our premises. Only students with vaccination certificates will be allowed to take offline lessons, the others will continue with virtual lessons. ”
Students were encouraged to wear masks and maintain social distancing in classrooms and premises. There are around 750 varied coaching institutes in the district, the majority of which are located in Feroze Gandhi Market, near ISBT, Model Town, Sector 32, Khanna, Doraha, Samrala and Macchiwara. Sunil Misra, owner of the Kirpal IELTS Coaching Institute, Model Town, said: “We have around 65 IELTS aspirants who have taken online courses. All of our students are eager to take physical classes. Students who have received the first dose of vaccination can start on Monday.
The pandemic has hit the once highly profitable coaching industry. Misra says he had around 120 students last year, but there has been a drop in enrollment this year due to the online mode of education.
These institutes polish IELTS aspirants in four areas: reading, writing, speaking and listening. After a nationwide lockdown was imposed last year, coaching centers were allowed to resume operations in October when authorities allowed schools to reopen for grades 9 to 12 with the consent of parents.
Meanwhile, coaching institutes preparing students for entrance exams such as Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) and other qualifying exams have decided to ask the state government to also allow them to reopen their institutes.
Tejpreet Singh, co-founder and COO of Edusquare, said: “The government must allow other coaching institutes to reopen so that students respond better to physical classes than to online classes. Last year we had over 700 students, there are only 450 left this year. We too must pay rent, salaries and maintain the infrastructure of the institute and the resumption of physical classes will help us reach our breakeven point. “
