Maharashtra to bring law regulating coaching classes after NEET leak
3 min readMumbaiMay 26, 2026 03:54 PM IST
With the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak sparking fresh concerns over the functioning of coaching classes, the Maharashtra government is set to finalise a long-pending bill to regulate this mushrooming industry.
The proposed regulatory framework is expected to outline operational rules for coaching classes with provisions such as mandatory registration, setting facility standards, transparency in fee structure, and guidelines against misleading promises in advertisements. It will also include aspects such as student welfare, safety protocols, and the mental health of students.
With the draft almost nearing completion, the state school education department plans to table the bill before the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Legislative Assembly. A senior official from the department said that apart from drawing from the central government’s 2024 guidelines on coaching class regulations, the draft policy also refers to similar Acts existing in states such as Goa, Karnataka, etc.
“We have also studied the recommendations submitted in the year 2018 by a 12-member expert committee, including a few government officials, tasked with preparing a set of rules,” said the official.
The official noted that an important aspect of this regulatory framework will also include the definition of a coaching class. “There are commercially run coaching institutes operating independently or in integration with junior colleges. At the same time, there are informally run tuition classes conducted from residential houses. The policy will define what will be brought under the regulatory framework,” an official privy to the developments said.
The policy will require coaching classes to register with the government and obtain safety certificates from agencies such as the fire brigade to ensure the premises are safe to occupy. It will mandate CCTV installation. The framework will also define the stipulated student-teacher ratio, the number of students per batch, and aim to bring transparency by asking coaching classes to declare their fee prospectus.
The regulatory framework has been pending for almost a decade. When the need to regulate the coaching industry was first discussed in 2016-17, a committee was formed to provide recommendations for the same.
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According to experts from the field of school education, every time there is an issue flagged in the coaching industry, the impending regulatory framework is brought to the fore, but the final nod has been pending for a long time. “It is important to note that only having a regulatory framework will not help until there is a dedicated structure to ensure that the rules are implemented,” said a senior teacher, highlighting how the Maharashtra government’s guidelines to reduce stress faced by school-going students remain on paper.
In January this year, the Maharashtra government issued guidelines to reduce academic or any other stress faced by school-going students. It categorically declared that these rules will also apply to coaching classes. The measures included guidelines on student-counsellor ratio, timely mental health support, publicising of suicide prevention helplines, etc.
