2023
India’s Tuition Republic is bigger than ever. Coaching culture is an epidemic now
Entry type: Single project
Country/area: India
Publishing organisation: ThePrint
Organisation size: Big
Publication date: 2022-12-19
Language: English
Authors: Desk and Editors
Biography:
Award winning journalist with 6 years of experience in reporting India’s most critical issues–unemployment, gender crimes, human rights, politics, and policy.
Born and brought up in a village in Haryana, I fought my way out of the state’s stifling patriarchal set-up to reach the National Capital, becoming the first person to graduate in the family. During my college days at Delhi University, I learnt to wear the lens of English writers to examine the condition of Rural Women. In journalism, I wear both my rural and urban lenses to bring an element of critical intersectionality to my reporting and writing.
Project description:
The story is a deep dive into the million dollar coaching Industry in India.
Impact reached:
The story remained in the top ten stories of ThePrint for days. People wrote emails to me and expressed how they wished someone would write about this coaching menace. Many educators spread it across schools and colleges. Overall, it spread much needed awareness about the tutions culture.
Techniques/technologies used:
Along with long interviews with parents, experts, NGO, educationist and bureaucrats, I also attended tutions and coaching classes. I covered a metro city, a small town and villages to bring a comprehensive piece. I wrote the story with my findings and the data provided by various stakeholders of the education system in India.
Context about the project:
This is not the first time that the coaching culture story was published. But how I made a difference with my story is that I changed the narrative. I brought deep insights from parents and their lives.
What can other journalists learn from this project?
The tuition culture started growing in the 90s and it made it to the newspaper every second year. It grew massively during the covid years and I decided to write about it. No story is the last story on any subject.
Project links:
