The government headed by Himanta Biswa Sarma deserves appreciation for introducing a bill to control and regulate the mushroom growth of so-called coaching institutes in the state. Tabled in the ongoing budget session of the Assam Legislative Assembly on Friday, the Assam Coaching Institutes (Control and Regulation) Bill, 2025, seeks to regulate private coaching centres to ensure quality education for the large number of competitive exam aspirants. It is important to note that the establishment of coaching institutes has become a lucrative business in Assam as elsewhere in the country, with aspirants and job seekers being compelled to shell out huge sums for so-called coaching by self-styled experts. That the overwhelming majority of these coaching institutes spread across Assam are actually of no use can be gauged by the simple fact that the number of candidates from the state making it to the UPSC selection list or to the list of candidates selected for admission to high-grade engineering and medical colleges of the country is extremely low. That most of these institutes have been set up with the sole objective of making profits can also be gauged from the fact that they show big dreams of IAS and IPS to the aspirants, instead of helping the students prepare for a greater number of vacancies arising in the railways, banking or financial sector, or in the various private manufacturing sectors. One reason is that it is easy to ask for high fees for the IAS dream instead of the lower-level jobs. There is a glaring absence of real coaching institutes with the sincere objective of helping the lakhs of unemployed youth find meaningful livelihood opportunities. As has been reported by this newspaper, many parents, with the hope of their children cracking highly competitive examinations for higher education in engineering, medical and other professional careers or civil services and other recruitment examinations, enrol them in these institutes but have no means of verifying the authenticity of such claims. Given such realities, it is very heartening to note that the bill proposed to include mandatory registration, which will require existing and new institutes to register within a stipulated time before operating. Moreover, institutes will have to submit information on curriculum, schedule, fees, infrastructure, and staff qualifications and follow standards for safety, qualified staff, and student space and avoid false claims. The Bill also seeks to enforce a code of conduct for coaching institutes for transparency in fees and student outcomes. The provision for mandatory mental health workshops and counselling by the institutes will be critical for reducing stress of students. What is also noteworthy is that this bill wants to make it mandatory for the institutes to support candidates from the marginalised groups and provide disability-friendly facilities. Inspection of the coaching institutes by district authorities, as provided in the bill, will be critical for enforcement of the proposed regulatory regime.