In India, educational institutions experienced significant teaching-learning interruptions and moved in and out of several lockdowns during the COVID-19 crisis (Murali & Maiorano, 2021). Despite lacking a strategic plan and the unpreparedness of educators and students, the mainstream education system was compelled to acclimate itself suddenly to online platforms (Suneja & Bagai, 2021; Khanapurkar et al., 2020). Evidence (Oxfam India’s status report, 2020; Murali & Maiorano, 2021; Narang & Bedi, 2024) suggests that many schools either responded slowly or lacked the capacity to respond effectively to the call for a digital education system during the COVID-19 crisis. Rising anxieties, repeated delays in school reopenings, and unsatisfactory responses from formal schools led students and families to turn to diverse forms of private tutoring (Narang & Bedi, 2024). Amidst this situation, when schools faced ongoing challenges and transitioning to online education was difficult, what activities were parallel education providers, such as private tutoring (PT) centres, engaged in that captured student attention? What made the PT centers responsive? What are the factors that allowed or hindered their ability to respond the way they did?

This research adopts the crisis leadership framework to analyse how PT leaders responded to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Crisis leadership scholarship is particularly relevant here, as it centers on the processes by which a crisis shapes leadership behaviour and decision-making, and on how leaders act and influence others. Although crisis leadership has emerged as a promising domain within leadership research, it remains a neglected aspect and underexplored dimension of educational leadership research (Striepa & Cunningham, 2022; Urick et al, 2021). Only a handful of scholars have used crisis leadership scholarship to understand and explain how educational leaders address disruptions. This is concerning because a leader must possess a set of specific skills to manage and cope with a crisis, which differ from those required in regular times. Given the pandemic context, the researcher employs a crisis leadership lens to deepen understanding of leadership processes and to contribute to the evolving literature.

Given the contextual significance of the COVID-19 crisis, the researcher employed a qualitative exploratory research design (Creswell & Poth, 2018). The research focuses on the ‘Indian form of private tutoring,’ the phrase coined by Gupta (2021, p.2) to emphasize the Indianness of the phenomenon, making it a unique practice. This study draws on a five-month-long engagement with three individual private tutoring (PT) centres located in Yamuna Vihar, Delhi. The site has been carefully selected based on set parameters essential for the study. These were: (i) Grade: Tutoring centres conducting classes for secondary school (9th as well as 10th) students. In India, at the secondary level, board exams are conducted that are referred to as markers of a good life, causing high anxiety among students (Mary et al., 2014) and hence leading to more private tutoring enrolments during these years; (ii) Subjects: Tutoring centres should be offering classes for Mathematics and Sciences, as these are in high demand (Sujatha, 2014) and are seen as scoring subjects that have parental aspirations and symbols of prestige linked (Ghosh & Bray, 2018; Gupta, 2021); (iii) Popularity: Tutoring centres that cater to most of the students in the area, and ; (iv) Tutoring centre’s consent and interest in the study. Primary data collection method was semi-structured interviews. Although the focus was on the leaders of the PT centres, to present a holistic picture of the situation, different interview schedules were prepared for other stakeholders, such as tutors and tutees. This data was also supplemented with observations from tutoring classes and secondary data from newspaper articles, online news platforms, tutoring centres’ websites, social media channels, and other related documents and sources. The data was analyzed using a thematic-analysis approach (Bernard & Ryan, 2010) and was presented in matrix form, enabling the researcher to develop an organized presentation of the findings.

The analysis presented three key findings in response to the research questions. Finding one highlights the multifaceted roles of PT centre leaders, including business head, academic head, chief communicator, crisis-management navigator, tutor, and reviewer, demonstrating a fluid leadership identity shaped by changing contextual and stakeholder demands, which is necessary to manage the crisis. Finding two reflects the different ways in which leaders responded to the pandemic, with significant implications for their business trajectories and leadership styles. Finding three underscores the central role of leaders in coordinating resources and facilitating learning and innovation during the entire crisis cycle. In line with existing literature (Boin et al., 2005; Riggio & Newstead, 2023), this study has demonstrated five critical tasks that a crisis leader undertakes in order to survive- (1) sensemaking to diagnose situations, (2) decision making to design strategies, (3) coordination of actions, (4) learning from the response effects, and (5) supporting and motivating others. This is the first study to document the responses of PT leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. These responses and strategies may help leaders in the formal education sector navigate through crises and also aid in the development of crisis-ready leaders.

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