Does coaching centers play any role In English medium students’ learning? : a study on practices and perceptions

Abstract

If we discuss about the education system of Bangladesh then we have to contemplate about the coaching centers both for English Medium and Bangla Medium school. No doubt that now -a -days coaching centers become an inseparable part of the whole education system of our country specifically in primary and secondary level. Hence it is important to know about the reasons that encourage the students of English Medium students to join the coaching centers after school. As a large number of students are joining coaching center just after finishing their school and spending their valuable time of student life in coaching center, so this study was intended to explore the reasons of joining the coaching centers of the students through studying the current practices in coaching centers of English Medium school from the view of its stakeholders. This study followed a qualitative research approach and relevant data was collected through interview, observation and focus group discussion (FGD). The interviews and discussion were conducted with coaching students, teachers and coaching parents. Beside this there was an interview with an educationalist to review the overall educational situation of our country. The findings of the study indicated that there are many reasons that encourage the students to join the coaching centers just finishing after school. If we analyze the opinion of the parent and student of coaching centers then it is clear that they are not satisfied with the current classroom practice and as a result they are depending on the coaching practice. Another vital reason that we got to know through this study is the current culture of education system in our county is also deepened on coaching practice. The coaching students and parents believe that without joining the coaching centers, it isnot possible to achieve good grade in the exam. As we agree that already coaching centers are very common and we cannot separate it from our education system. So we must say that coaching centers definitely play role in our education system. Some of them are negative and some of are positive as well. In the context of our current education system we have to think more about it and there is plenty of room to observe and discuss this subject.