“Coaching Centres Have Become Poaching Centres”: Vice-President Warns Against Cramming Culture, Foreign Tech Dependence

Kota, Rajasthan | July 12:
In a powerful and wide-ranging address at the 4th convocation of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Kota, Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar issued a scathing critique of the prevailing coaching culture in India, warning that it is undermining the nation's talent and educational ethos.

“Coaching centres have turned into poaching centres and black holes for talent, functioning in regimented silos,” he said, calling it a malice that threatens the future of India’s youth. Expressing concern over their proliferation, he stressed the urgent need for these institutions to transform into skill development centres rather than continue fueling a "robotic, cramming culture."

The Vice-President argued that the obsession with grades and standardised scores was compromising curiosity, the bedrock of human intelligence. “Cramming creates memory without meaning... degrees without depth. It is turning bright minds into intellectual zombies,” he said, warning of psychological consequences and loss of creativity.

Shri Dhankhar sharply criticized the commercialization of education, saying that coaching centres were exploiting parental hopes and finances. “Billboard ads and newspaper promotions funded by hard-earned money are eyesores to our civilisational ethos,” he remarked, adding that education must not become an assembly-line industry.

He also connected the challenges in education to the larger national context of technological sovereignty. “Sovereignty will not be lost through invasions but through dependence on foreign digital infrastructure,” he warned. He called for a new patriotism rooted in technological leadership, stating, “Technological supremacy is the new frontier of patriotism.”

Highlighting the changing nature of global power, he said, “Today’s battleground is not land or sea, but code, cloud, and cyber.” He urged India to stop being a passive user of borrowed technology, and instead become a net exporter of innovation.

“A smart app that doesn’t work in rural India isn’t smart enough. An AI model that ignores regional languages is incomplete. A digital tool that excludes the disabled is unjust,” he stated, calling for inclusive, Bharat-centric solutions that can serve global needs.

The Vice-President concluded with a call to students to reclaim India's digital destiny, asserting that India's coders, data scientists, and AI engineers are the modern-day nation builders. “Rise as architects of your digital future — and influence the destiny of other nations too,” he urged.

The event was attended by Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) A.K. Bhatt, BoG Chairperson, and Prof. N.P. Padhy, Director of IIIT Kota, among other dignitaries.