Kota/New Delhi: Across the streets of the coaching hub of Kota, there is one common refrain among entrance exam aspirants, “hum to dummy hai (we are dummy students)”, uttered almost with pride.
It is not a reference to a dimwit, but “dummy schooling”, a way of education popular not just in Kota but across India in which students wishing to study for tough entrance exams enrol in regular schools for Class 11 and 12 studies but are exempted by the institutes from attending classes and internal assessments.
While said to have been thriving for the last 10 years, dummy schooling goes against the regulations of education boards, several of which mandate 75 percent attendance for students.
Dinesh Pratap, 17, is one such “dummy student” who is aspiring for a seat in the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
When he scored over 90 percent marks in his Class 10 board exam, Dinesh decided to move to Kota, nearly 250 km away from his home in Rajasthan’s Jaipur, to crack one of the toughest engineering entrance exams in India.
The intense coaching sessions in Kota meant that regular school classes would take a hit and Dinesh chose to go for “dummy schooling”. He is now a student at a Jaipur school but lives in Kota and attends coaching classes there for the JEE exam.
In dummy schooling, regular schools unofficially partner with coaching centres and take in students while exempting them from classes. Such students sit for classes at their entrance exam coaching centre and take the board exam at the school when the time comes, along with final practicals that involve external invigilators. It is tough to identify the institutes allowing dummy schooling this way.
Not just Dinesh, several students ThePrint spoke to in Kota talked about dummy schooling in a matter-of-fact way.
“It’s all part of the system here,” Dinesh told ThePrint. “Most of the 11th or 12th grade students preparing for IIT entrance or NEET (medical entrance) are enrolled as dummy students in schools. It’s convenient and gives us time to focus on our exam preparation.”
Last month, CBSE board officials conducted surprise inspections at 27 schools in Rajasthan and New Delhi to investigate the “menace” of dummy schooling. In March this year, following a similar inspection, the board de-affiliated 20 schools across various states for enrolling dummy students.
Some of these schools were Siddhartha Public School, Bharat Mata Saraswati Bal Mandir, National Public School and Marigold Public School in Delhi, Loyal Public School, Trinity World School and Crescent Convent School in Uttar Pradesh and Global Indian International School in Rajasthan.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior CBSE official said: “Such schools maintain records with a high number of enrolled students, but only a few attend classes. Most of the students are registered as dummy students and actually attend classes at coaching centres elsewhere. These schools also get financial incentives from the coaching centres for facilitating their students’ participation in board exams.”
An official at the Union ministry of education told ThePrint that talks are on with state education boards to extend the crackdown on dummy schooling beyond CBSE-affiliated schools.
“The majority of schools in India are state board-affiliated. Therefore, a collaborative approach is required to fight the menace of dummy schooling,” said the official.
However, stakeholders contend that it is a “sensitive and complex” issue with both advantages and disadvantages, and thus needs careful consideration and discussion.
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‘We are more focused’
Sitting in his hostel room in Kota’s Vigyan Nagar neighbourhood, 17-year-old Akash Singh explains the rationale behind his decision to take up dummy schooling.
“When you break down a student’s day, they spend at least eight hours—from 6 am to 2 pm—attending school and commuting. After that, they attend coaching classes from 3 pm to 6 pm. With at least 7-8 hours needed for sleep, where is the time left for self-study?” he asked.
Akash, who moved from Lucknow to Kota last year and joined a coaching centre to pursue his dream of becoming an IITian, told ThePrint that school education primarily focuses on NCERT textbooks, which are not enough to secure a seat at IIT.
“Their main concern is achieving good results in board exams. In contrast, coaching centres offer instruction above the NCERT level, covering material that is more relevant for entrance exams. By studying at a coaching centre, students can easily score 75 percent or more in their Class 12 board exam, which is a prerequisite for appearing in JEE (Advanced),” he said. “Therefore, regular schooling often feels like a waste of time.”
The first time Akash visited his school in Lucknow was earlier this year, when he landed there to sit for his Class 11 final exam.
“There’s no burden of assignments or internal exams—the school handles all of that. Next, I’ll go to the school for the practical exams, as an external examiner comes in for those. Our coaching centre has a lab that helps us practice for that as well,” he said.
Other students pursuing dummy schooling that ThePrint spoke to in Kota also asserted that such a schooling system hadn’t affected their lives much, and had rather led them to become “more focused” on their goals and get more time for “self-study”.
When asked if he missed being in a school environment, Akash said: “Here, we have a system similar to school. After attending classes in the morning, we have the whole day to ourselves for self-study and even group study. This is something I wouldn’t have had in a traditional school setting.”
“If you’re focused on your goal, you can’t afford to waste time. With IITs, you’re only allowed two attempts (JEE Advanced). I couldn’t have taken the risk of attending regular school first and then taking a year off to prepare,” he added.
The students also believe that teachers at coaching centres are “better”, since many of them are IIT graduates themselves.
“The teachers at coaching centres have more experience, while school teachers often don’t focus on developing concepts,” said 17-year-old Aman Tyagi from Delhi.
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Prevalent across India, supported by parents
Educators believe the dummy schooling system has emerged as a byproduct of the coaching industry, with many highlighting Kota’s role in its rise. However, the practice is now widespread across the country and is fuelled by demand.
“Kota has given rise to the dummy schooling system. This model originated in this city because coaching centres wanted their students to focus solely on entrance exam preparation to achieve success. Schools were willing to compromise, knowing that if their students excelled, it would also bring recognition to them. It was all about reputation and acknowledgment,” said a senior faculty member in Kota, who now teaches independently.
“Institutes offering dummy schooling exist all across the country now,” he added.
The alternate schooling system is such an integral part of the coaching landscape now that many parents believe it’s the only way for their children to secure a seat in a prestigious medical or engineering institute.
“Getting into a government medical college requires immense effort, and children need time to focus. How can I put my child under so much stress by enrolling her in a regular school, where she has to meet 75 percent attendance requirement to appear for the board exam and complete assignments, while also attending coaching classes?” asked Shalini Singh, the mother of a NEET aspirant in Kota pursuing Class 12 studies via dummy schooling in Jaipur.
“It’s just too overwhelming. And, without coaching, she wouldn’t stand a chance,” she added.
When asked about the process, she explained: “The coaching centre facilitated our connection with the school. We contacted the school, and they quickly enrolled my daughter as a dummy student.”
Several school principals in Delhi have observed parental acceptance of the dummy schooling system, so much so that parents have started asking schools for attendance concessions for their children.
“Parents today are increasingly inclined to take shortcuts, which often leads their children into this system. They fail to recognise the immense pressure they are placing on their kids. They aren’t considering the holistic development of the students. This system has become a significant challenge for regular schools,” Jyoti Arora, Principal of Mount Abu Public School in Delhi, told The Print.
Sudha Acharya, principal of ITL Public School in Delhi, said that parents have a “herd mentality” and that they also often impose their aspirations on children.
“In the past, only science students pursued coaching and utilised the dummy schooling system, but with the introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), nearly all students are now seeking coaching. Since school performance is no longer factored into college admissions, schools have become irrelevant for these students. Parents also want their children to focus solely on entrance exam preparation, often overlooking the importance of broader student development,” she said.
The government introduced CUET for the 2022-2023 session for admissions to all undergraduate courses in universities and colleges. Earlier, admissions were done on the basis of Class 12 marks in many premier universities, including Delhi University.
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But coaching centres blame schools
Stakeholders in the coaching industry argue that the school curriculum and educational delivery fail to meet the needs of students aiming to secure admission to IITs or medical colleges. Therefore, they believe, students come to them for studies and opt for dummy schooling.
Pramod Maheshwari, founder of Career Point, urged school education boards, including CBSE, to reflect on their practices.
“They’re compelling students to attend classes even when they don’t want to, which suggests that the quality and offerings aren’t meeting students’ needs. They need to get their own house in order first,” he told ThePrint.
Echoing his sentiment, Shishir Mittal, founder of Vyas Edification in Kota, said the school system has fundamentally failed in its core mission: teaching.
“Just visit any traditional school’s website. You’ll find a focus on amenities like swimming pools and impressive infrastructure, but hardly any mention of actual teaching. It’s clear that many schools are more interested in showcasing their facilities than in providing quality education,” he said.
Those associated with the coaching industry also questioned the quality of teachers in schools.
Mittal pointed out that while schools may tout their impressive infrastructure and diverse course offerings, the reality is that they often pay teachers low salaries—around Rs 20,000 a month.
“If you’re not willing to invest in quality educators, what kind of educational institution are you really operating? Unfortunately, many students leave schools for coaching centres because their focus is primarily on teaching spoken English, resulting in lack of a well-rounded education,” he explained.
“Why are engineers permitted to teach at coaching centres but not in schools? Why does the system remain so outdated and traditional by insisting on a B.Ed degree for teaching?” Maheshwari asked.
He, however, also warned about “misuse” of the dummy schooling system.
“There is considerable abuse of the system. For instance, of 50 students (aiming to crack entrance exams), only 10 are genuinely committed, yet all of them enrol for dummy schooling. While those 10 attend coaching classes, the remaining 40 simply waste their time. This is a significant reason for the system’s misuse. Therefore, we need to have a serious discussion about this issue,” Maheshwari told ThePrint.
‘Urgently need radical policy changes’
Educators and experts have called for reforms in the entrance exam process in order to do away with dummy schooling.
Speaking to ThePrint, Kulbhushan Sharma, President of the National Independent Schools Association (NISA), said it was the entire education system and not just schools that was at fault.
“Why can’t the government align the syllabus and question patterns of entrance exams with the school curriculum? Why do students have to study so much more than what’s in their textbooks? The entire system seems designed to benefit coaching industries and render schools irrelevant. We urgently need radical policy changes,” he said.
Keshav Agarwal, a member of the Coaching Federation of India, highlighted the disconnect between school syllabus and entrance exam curriculum. “Moreover, there is a disparity in teaching methods; board exams often include a mix of objective and subjective questions, while entrance exams primarily focus on objective format. It’s unrealistic to expect school teachers to effectively cover both approaches,” he said.
“Additionally, entrance exam papers include content from both Classes 11 and 12, whereas students usually concentrate solely on Class 12 syllabus for their board exams. This gap raises concerns about the effectiveness of school preparation. It’s essential to address this issue. No one is compelling students to invest in coaching; they opt for it because they see it as necessary,” he added.
Agarwal suggested that the government should take radical steps like introducing biometric attendance in schools for students.
Experts also believe that school performance should be given some weight in addition to entrance exams for college admissions. “We have been advocating for this ever since the CUET was introduced, but so far, there has been no response from policymakers,” said principal Acharya.
Mount Abu Public School principal Arora advocated for stricter regulations from the government to prevent coaching centres from showcasing top achievers on billboards.
“This practice encourages parents to push their children into a competitive race, often at the expense of their holistic development. They fail to recognise that schools provide more than just academics; they help children develop their personalities, make friends, learn life skills, and engage in various activities—not just exam preparation,” she said.
Meanwhile, officials at the ministry of education said that under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, CBSE has already introduced 50 percent competency-based questions in the board papers.
“National Testing Agency and the National Medical Commission have now aligned question papers with the NCERT syllabus for JEE (Main) and NEET, respectively. The government is taking every step to make entrance examinations easier for students,” said the ministry official quoted earlier.
The official stressed that schooling should involve more than just preparing for entrance exams.
“NEP 2020 emphasises the need for holistic development rather than just rote learning. Schools offer opportunities to build various skills and gain different experiences. The dummy schooling system prevents students from achieving full growth and goes against our educational policy. Therefore, the government will keep working to address this issue,” he said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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