'I Don’t believe in coaching classes,' says Narayana Murthy of Infosys amid Kota crisis

Murthy said that his wife's choice to forego TV and study alongside children set a strong example.

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy on September 9 said he does not believe in coaching classes, adding that the only students who require them are those who fail to pay proper attention to their teachers in the classroom.

“Coaching classes are the wrong way to help children to pass examinations, I don’t believe in coaching classes,” the tech czar said after unveiling Paul Hewitt’s 13th edition of the best-selling book Conceptual Physics by Pearson in Bengaluru.

“Most people who go to coaching classes, they don't listen to their teachers carefully in the class and poor parents, they are not as competent to help them and therefore they see some value,” Murthy said, responding to questions on suicides in Kota, Rajasthan, and whether coaching institutes are a gateway to IITs and NITs.

The coaching business has been booming and is estimated at over Rs 58,000 crore a year, growing around 19-20 percent a year. Additionally, online avatars of crammers and coaching centres’ markets are expected to hit $2 billion by next year, growing at over 17 percent CAGR through this decade.

Murthy further said that rote learning has unfortunately been the focus in India, which is a hindrance in thinking and solving real-world problems. Murthy emphasised that the purpose of education is “learning to learn.”

He further said that the objective of education is also to help in analytical thinking and recognising problems that have not yet been solved. “The importance of education is, first, to observe. Second, to analyse why this difference is coming out. Third is to offer a hypothesis. And finally, that hypothesis is observed by many people… and then verified if that thing is fine.”

The 1993 workshop

In 1993, Infosys conducted a workshop on innovation for all employees. A peon named Chandrapal approached Murthy and told him he did not fully understand the concept of innovation.

Murthy replied by saying innovation is only about asking three fundamental questions: “One, how can I do whatever I am doing faster today compared to yesterday? Second, how can I do whatever I am doing, cheaper today than yesterday? And third, how can I do whatever I am doing with a better quality and fewer mistakes today than yesterday?”

Murthy told Chandrapal that everyone has to answer these basic questions whether one is cleaning a table or writing conceptual physics. “When you clean the table, just probably, if you counted, there to be 10 specs of dust tomorrow morning... and say that I will reduce the number of specs of dust to nine tomorrow morning, that's all innovation, nothing else.”

Also read: Why India’s attempt to regulate coaching schools is doomed to fail