No GST on fee for hostels at schools, colleges: Finance Ministry

It clarified that services provided by an educational institute to students, faculty and staff are exempt from GST

Mumbai: Remaining true to its claim of keeping education free from GST, the Finance Ministry on Thursday clarified that there will be no GST levied on annual subscription/fees charges for lodging in hostels under educational institutions.

Addressing fake reports that claim 18 per cent GST will be levied on annual fee charged by hostels, the ministry said, “There is no change in tax liability relating to education and related services in the GST era, except reduction in tax rate on certain items of education”.

The ministry statement further clarified that services that an educational institute provides to its students, faculty and staff are “fully exempt” from GST.

It further went on to define educational institution as one imparting “pre-school education and education up to higher secondary school or equivalent or, education as a part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognised by any law for the time being in force or, education as a part of an approved vocational education course”.

Therefore, the services of lodging in hostels provided by all such educational institutions do not fall under the ambit of GST.

The Finance Ministry and the GST Council have from the very start maintained that education will not attract GST. Only some items that fall under the category of education, like school bags have been taxed under GST.

The ministry has been issuing a slew of clarifications to make citizens aware of the new tax regime that has transformed the Indian taxation system.

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Add personal care to your child’s education with these apps

With most of parents crunched with time, it becomes critical to find a suitable support for managing their childs’ education.

Even with the advent of technological inclusion in education, parents and teachers realize that human connect is an absolute necessity for a growing child’s guided mental, emotional and psychological development.  With most of parents in today’s world crunched with time and in many finding it difficult to handle the ever changing syllabus, it becomes critical for them to find a suitable and qualified support for managing their childs’ education. 

Interestingly, in the well-connected technology-supported world of today, nothing seems to be impossible. Finding tutors, as per the requirements for the kids is no more a task either.  Here come the role education startups, offering offline private tutoring through their customer friendly apps. Over the years these startups boosting private tutoring industry in India have bought a revolution. They serve as a link between students and tutors.

Genext Students

Emphasising on Hybrid model of teaching, Genext Students app is one of the most convenient way of connecting with tutors.  Genext Students is a one-of-its-kind platform which brings quality home tutors along with proprietary content (online & offline) to the doorstep of parents/students using technology as a key driver. It enables an enhanced way of delivering private coaching with the best of technology. The mobile app, with its technological features, is made available to the tutors and the parents combining the best of private tutoring with technology-enabled learning for CBSE, ICSE & State Boards. It also empowers educators & tutors to become entrepreneurs, and in turn, leads to the creation of a wave of ‘TUTORPRENEURS’ across the country.

Tutorindia

TutorIndia has been designed to make it really easy and convenient for students and teachers. Students can find tutors for online private tutoring and help with assignments online. Apart from teachers for online tutoring, it also helps in find local teachers in India. Tutors can list there profiles so students contact them. Thousands of tutors have benefited so far and millions will. Tutors can directly apply to jobs posted by students. Again, there is no charge for contacting students and the service is completely free.

UrbanPro

UrbanPro — previously known as ThinkVidya — has more than three lakhs professionals on its platform and has served five lakhs consumers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and the National Capital Region in the education segment.

Tutor.com

Tutor.com offers one-to-one learning solutions for students and professionals. All the services are live, on demand and online. They provide homework help, tutoring, peer coaching, professional development, training, career help but it comes down to the core philosophy that when someone needs help the best way to get it is right away from an experienced expert. Their experts are online 24/7 ready to help. The results: over 14 million one-to-one sessions completed.

TutorCloud

Tutors can use this great website to showcase the services they have to offer learners. It helps to simplify the process of finding new students and allows learners to easily connect with those in their area or who have expertise in subjects with which they struggle.

GlobalScholar

GlobalScholar offers a wide range of online services, including homework help and tutoring. Tutors can use the site to build personalized learning environments for their students, which make it simple to teach, share information, and even track progress over time. With many large school districts already using the program, students may already be familiar with it, and progress in tutoring sessions can easily be shared with the students’ teacher.

ziizoo

There are a lot of online tutoring programs out there these days, but ziizoo sets itself apart by being the first to integrate tutoring with Facebook. Students can sign up, pay as they go, and get help from tutors on a wide range of subjects. Since it’s all integrated directly into Facebook, it’s easy for students to keep up and check back.

TutorVista

Tutors can offer their services through TutorVista, a site that makes it simple for tutors and learners to connect and interact online. The site offers 24/7 availability, testing, homework help, and tracking, making it a step in the right direction for both students and those teaching them.

Edufire

Share your expertise through Edufire, a site that offers classes and tutoring to learners of all ages and abilities. Live video chats, one-on-one sessions, and pre-recorded content make it simple to find help with just about any topic, from math to Chinese.

Growing Stars

Growing Stars is another online tutoring site, though one that focuses on hiring tutors who have an MS or above. Those who are qualified can apply to tutor, finding long-term clients who teach math, science, history, and other subjects through online video sessions and training.

24 Hour Answers

This site offers college homework help and online tutoring in just about every subject imaginable. As a result, both students and tutors will find it to be a great resource, and unlike many other tutoring sites, this one focuses on helping students at the college or university level.

e-Tutor

e-Tutor offers both students and tutors some incredibly helpful learning tools, from instant feedback and progress tracking to the ability to self-pace and direct any online learning. Resources aren’t just for students who need help catching up, but also gifted students, homeschooled students, and adult learners, too.

HomeworkHelp

Need some quick help with homework? This site can be a great place to find it. There’s a store, online tutorials, and, most importantly, great academic services that match up with state standards for K-12 education.

TutaPoint

Students pay by the hour to use the tutoring services offered through this site, which focuses on math, foreign language, and science. In addition to being able to offer or receive tutoring, the site is also home to books and videos that can help students along as well.

Sylvan Online

Sylvan is keeping up with the demand for web-based learning resources by offering their own online tutoring program. Instead of heading into a Sylvan Learning Center, students can learn from anywhere they choose. This may make tutoring easier for many families who are too busy or too far from traditional tutoring resources.

Vienova

Tutors at Vienova offer one-on-one sessions with students through video chat, whiteboards, and interactive conversations in subjects like English, math, biology, and economics. It’s another simple, easy way for learners to find high-quality tutors and for tutors to offer their services to students.

Care.com

Forget about posting tear off posters at your local grocery store; there’s an easier way to find clients these days. Tutors and students can connect through Care.com. Tutors can create a profile that allows them to showcase the services they offer, and students can pick the tutor they think will be the best fit.

TutoringMatch

Here you’ll find another tool that focuses on online tutoring. Visitors to the site can not only search for a tutor who works in the subject they need help with, they can also get online instruction from that tutor right through the site.

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Internet Saathi: Google empowers women in 100,000 villages

India has taken the lead to become the fastest growing Internet user market in the world.

If you talk to a few women deep within the rural village areas of India, and ask them what they wish, you will be probably be surprised by their answers.  “We want to find jobs online,” “I want to see temples,” “I want to be able to buy from my mobile,” “I want my kids to learn English,” “We wish we could talk to our phones in our own native language.” These are a just a bunch of answers that a few women revealed.

Previously, these women were afraid to even touch a smartphone, worried that they will spoil it. However, things are soon changing. They are now demanding services that can help them get more from the Internet — they have come a long way.

Even as India has taken the lead to become the fastest growing Internet user market in the world, Google states that most of India’s Internet is still dominated by its male users. ‘The digital gender divide is even wider in rural India where digital literacy amongst women continues to be a challenge, this combined with socio-economic challenges are the major barriers that prevent women from using the Internet,’ says Google.

Google says that they have been working hard to change this male: female ratio of new Internet users in rural India by introducing the Internet Saathi program. Launched with a pilot in Rajasthan in July 2015, they announced their plans to scale the program, to cover 300,000 villages across India in December 2015.

Google now shares that the Internet Saathi program, in partnership with Tata Trusts, is live in over 100,000 villages across ten states in India.

There are over 25,000 Internet Saathis who are working everyday across these villages, and are helping over 10 million women learn about the Internet and how they can use it in their daily lives.

Several Internet Saathi’s in rural India are learning about the Internet or their own needs and for their families, kids and their communities.  These Saathis are now increasingly seen as change agents in their villages and continue to find more support from the communities and village heads for their work.

Google has reached this milestone and is looking at measuring the impact of the program. Findings of the research from IPSOS, a market research company on the socio-economic impact of improving digital literacy amongst women in rural India, is providing Google with insights on what more needs to be done. Almost 90 per cent of women who have attended the trainings with the Saathis have a better understanding of Internet, and on an average 25 per cent of women who have learned to use the Internet continue to use the Internet today. At 35 per cent, Gujarat is presently having the highest percentage of women continuing to use the Internet after attending the program, while Rajasthan rides at 17 per cent, which is the lowest.

The research findings state that the primary use case for Internet is to learn new skills and find information.

The research also stated that the cost of smart phones is the biggest barrier for internet usage after training and over half of the women trained cannot afford to buy the phone

Impact on social standing of women in rural India:

Seven per cent of women trained under the program feel that their social standing has improved. They believe their social standing has improved at individual, household and community level — they feel more informed, more confident about themselves

Economic Impact: Overall, 33 per cent trained women think that their economic condition have improved by learning new skills on the Internet.

Women feel that Internet has helped them to supplement their income in their existing occupation; income increased by an additional 1 per cent in the villages where training was conducted; and those who continue to use internet in their daily lives believe they have upped their income additionally by another 4 per cent.

Loaded with insights and learning’s from the last two years, Google is continuing to expand the program further and have started to roll out Internet Saathi program in Haryana and Bihar, covering around 1,000 villages, and 7,000+ villages respectively.

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