Indians for all their divisions clamor for one common theme: exclusivity. Whether it’s being one of the select few, who work at a Fortune 500 company or the one who makes it to an IIT, exclusivity is always celebrated and rewarded. Show The exclusivity which comes with the latter is celebrated more vociferously than others. IIT is a dream which flickers across every engineering aspirants mind. Many people like to create legends and lore about the greatness of IIT. To young minds, the IITs almost seem like a quest. IIT Preparation almost seems a journey to find the ultimate treasure. 22 year old content writer Sheetal Mishra, an engineering dropout, explains this fascination. ‘I was always fond of writing. When I heard about IIT-JEE, something strange reverberated inside me. Though I had always believed writing to be my true calling, the sheer magnanimity of IITs drew me towards engineering’ Many students often claim their parents being the driving force behind their career choices. Sheetal’s case is different. ‘My parents were shocked when I told them I wanted to be an engineer. I was always an average student, so they were skeptical if I’d be able to handle the stress associated with engineering’ When asked what the true driving force behind this sudden change of direction, Sheetal explained from the beginning. ‘I was always fond of reading. The Lord of the Rings was my favorite book at the time. The idea of going on an improbable quests being guided by nothing but my own skills and merits seemed very appealing. Yes, IIT-JEE did present a huge challenge. But I was convinced that with enough hard work I would be successful’ Sheetal did make it to an IIT. IIT Madras to be specific. She chose Computer Science Engineering as her major. This is where her struggles began. ‘Most great movies have an underwhelming sequel. My time at IIT Madras is kind of similar. When I finally made it, I thought it was finally the end. That is where I was wrong’ The rigor of studying for four long years requires either a lot of dedication, or a lot of endurance. Sheetal had neither. ‘Once I cleared the exam, I had achieved everything I had dreamed of. I simply had no more enthusiasm left for engineering. I stayed in IIT for two years. I simply couldn’t spend a day longer without counting the minutes on the clock. I simply had to leave’ Not many students have the courage Sheetal had. Two years after leaving, she is working as a content writer. ‘It’s not the same kind of money I’d be earning after IIT, but atleast I’m not counting minutes anymore. I’m happy because I can see myself working in this line of work for the next five, even ten years’ The rise of the coaching industry in IndiaSheetal is not the only student who was left spellbound at first by the lure of IITs. Admission to IIT is effectively considered a ticket to a comfortable life. Coaching institutes use this very mindset of students by offering them a springboard to get to IITs. A survey done by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) in 2013 valued the coaching institutes industry as a multi-billion-rupee business. Some of the more shocking revelations in the survey said that about 87% students in primary school and 95% in secondary school attend private coaching classes. In every field of study riddled with competition and entrance exams, coaching centres have managed to create a niche space for themselves. Whether the rise of the coaching industry is the consequence or cause of increase in competition is still left to be analyzed. What one can discern is that both these factor have fanned the flame leading to the demise of conventional school education. Former faculty at a prominent coaching centre, Brijesh Kumar explains the problems which have led to the inevitable rise of coaching. ‘The demand has always been there. The IITs always set extremely difficult question papers which left most school students out of their depth. In the old days, average students didn’t even think of IITs. The bright students studied hard and got admission. It was merely for the elite few’ ‘The trend we are seeing now is many average students trying to be a part of the competition. This is where big coaching centres come in. Most average students knew school education was too subjective and topical to be of any use in competitive exams. This led to the rise of coaching institutes’ So was it the failure of schools to misread student aspirations? Most schools now are more focused on board results. For engineering students though, boards are nothing but a sideshow. ‘I always ignored school studies’, says Sheetal. ‘The school was simply too far behind and too rigid in terms of curriculum and teaching methods. Coaching institutes on the other hand encouraged students to go further and learn more. If I hadn’t joined a coaching centre and focused more on school, I’d most likely have gotten admission to a far flung college instead if IIT. If college is the endgame, school education simply doesn’t matter for engineering aspirants’ This damning verdict on school education is only natural, considering the level of the current curriculum has remained the same for the past few decades. Whether schools will wake up to confront this challenge remains to be seen. Kota: The headquarters of IIT coachingKota two decades back was a sleepy industrial town 250 km from the capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur. The developments of the past twenty years have landed Kota on the map of India as being the coaching capital of India. Over 1,25,000 students have been getting down to Kota for the past 14 years. Some come with a parent, but most come alone. ‘If you needed to understand the true meaning of an obsession, Kota is the ideal place to start’, says Veer Kashyap, a psychiatrist who works in Kota. ‘This is the one city where even a thousand psychiatrists won’t be enough. Each student is reeling under pressure. After the recent spate of suicides, coaching institutes have promptly setup counseling cells in their centres itself. Whether these cells will have a positive impact still remains to be seen’ In April this year, 17-year old student Kriti Tripathi took her own life by jumping off a five-storey building. As a parting message, she urged the government to shut down coaching institutes such as the ones which operated in Kota. ‘Coaching centres often tell students to take it easy when cases such as these arise. However, when the dust settles, they go back to their tried-and-tested regime of coaxing students into submission. Common people will call it logic, but as a psychology professional, I have to call this psychological domination’ Veer Kashyap claims coaching institutions in Kota are using psychological domination to train students. When probed further about this concept, he explained, ‘Consider you’re a student coming to Kota brimming with confidence. You arrive and see thousands of other students streets ahead of you. You’re placed in a lower batch, you’re performance is scrutinized and you constantly feel out of your depth. This kind of treatment doesn’t even exist in the cut-throat corporate world, and coaching institutes do this without batting an eye. Most students are simply too young and fragile to face the intensity at which most institutes here operate’ Is there any solution to this mess? We asked Veer if he had any suggestions. ‘Do what Kriti said. Shut down coaching institutes. Shut down the ridiculous plethora of standardized tests which is plaguing our country. You look at Scandinavian countries which became number one in education in the entire world a few years back. What was the first thing they did to reach there? They shut down all types of standardized tests. It isn’t rocket science’ The solution Veer provides is adequate, but India isn’t a country where things happen in a jiffy. Changing things takes time. The immediate solution for students would be to avoid engineering altogether if it doesn’t suit them. JEE Coaching InstitutesThe one synonymous factor associated with JEE preparation is coaching classes. More often than not, students who make it to IIT are from coaching classes. This trend in not merely associated with the IITs. Most students who make it to BITS, NITs, VIT and other prominent colleges originally attended coaching classes. In other words, for any student to make it to a good college, going to coaching classes seems to be a necessity. The ubiquity of coaching centres across large and small cities and towns have made coaching available to students from all corners of India. Amongst the array of coaching institutes, we look at some of the most prominent coaching classes spread across the country. Aakash InstituteEarlier regarded as a bastion for medical coaching, Aakash has steadily made a name for itself in the engineering coaching industry. With unmatched resources and pan-India reach, Aakash has solidified its name in the coaching industry of India. Instituted in 1988, Aakash started out as a pre-medical coaching institute. After enormous success over the past few years, Aakash changed its modus operandi and began expanding into the engineering coaching sector. With enormous resources and wide appeal across India, Aakash has gained significant foothold in the JEE preparation industry. Some of the key features of the courses it offers are listed below.
Responding to the call of tech integration in the education sector, Aakash has introduced a number of e-learning tools such as Aakash Live. Aakash Live is web-based interface with online tutorials comprising of explanations, problem solving and online tests. Other tools such as Aakash iTutor have also generated positive feedback from students and teachers alike.  Aakash has created a strong foothold for itself in the JEE preparation industry
Aakash has a widely acclaimed distance learning programme which entails printed material, CDs, revision and mock test packages. Many students take up Aakash’s distance learning programme along with attending coaching at another institute. Admission to Aakash is conducted through the Aakash National Talent Hunt Exam (ANTHE). The course details and fee structures are tabled below. Course Duration Class Fees One year pass out programme 1 year XII pass Rs. 1, 18,000/- Two years JEE Mains + Advanced combined 2 years XI Rs. 2,78,000/- One year programme 1 year XII Rs. 1,12,000/- Crash course 2 months XII and XII pass Rs. 27,000/- Correspondence course 2 years XI Rs. 22,251/- Correspondence course 1 year XII and XII pass Rs. 17,750/-
FIITJEEFIITJEE is the most popular and trusted names for JEE coaching The most famous name in the Indian coaching factory, FIITJEE has long been the face of the industry. With presence seeped across practically every city and town in India, FIITJEE is a major stakeholder in the coaching industry of India. Started back in 1992 by IIT Delhi mechanical graduate DK Goel, FIITJEE primarily focuses on training engineering aspirants for engineering entrance exams such as JEE Mains, JEE Advanced, BITSAT and other talent exams such as KVPY and NTSE. Despite many changes taking place in exam formats and syllabi, FIITJEE has always managed to hold off competition and be the leader amongst coaching institutes in the country. The aim of FIITJEE is to become the global leader in education in the coming years. They have already begun working on this project by tying up with established schools to create a synchronized school and coaching environment. Details of this programme will be discussed later. Some of the unique highlights of the services FIITJEE provides are
FIITJEE isn’t for the weak willed. With a number of students at every centre segregated into different batches according to performance in exams, the air of competitiveness is ominous. FIITJEE is known for creating an intensive environment in classrooms to match the intensity needed to crack competitive exams.
FIITJEE encourages students to avoid buying reference books and concentrate on the study material provided. They do this because they know their study material good enough for any student. FIITJEE study material doesn’t end at topic wise books provided weekly. Other dedicated materials such as Chapter Practice Problem (CPP), Grand Master Package (GMP), Rankers Test Papers File (RTPF) and All India Test Series (AITS) act as supplements if students ever run out of problems to solve.
Many students remain in the dark while JEE preparation with regards to where they truly stand on the national scale. The Success Potential Index (SPI) is essentially a prediction tool which forecasts what a student’s rank will be in a competitive exam after the completion of a weekly test or exercise. This helps in keeping the students vigilant with regards to their JEE preparation. To take admission in FIITJEE, it is compulsory to take the FIITJEE Talent Reward Exam (FTRE). Based on performance in the exam, many students are offered discount of up to 75%. The FIITJEE fees for the different courses offered are tabled below. Course offered Duration Classes Fees Two year classroom programme for JEE advanced and JEE Mains 2 years XI Rs.2,33,128 One year extended classroom programme for JEE Advanced 1 year XII pass Rs. 1,24,000 PINNACLE integrated school programme for JEE Advanced 2 years XI Rs. 4,73,000 Special one year programme for JEE Advanced and JEE Mains 1 year XII Rs. 1,57,800 Besides the integrated school programme, discounts are offered on all above courses based on performance in FTRE. Batches can be chosen as per convenience with both weekdays and weekend timing available.
At one point of time, Vidyamandir Classes represented the very epitome of IIT coaching. With a limited number of seats and only one centre in the country, the conversion ratio of students studying their went through the roof every year. In fact, getting admission to Vidyamandir was often deemed a guarantee for eventual admission to IIT. With expansion across all forums in the past few years, VMC may have become less efficient, but it hasn’t compromised with its core teaching methodology and philosophy. A major attraction at VMC is the chance of being taught by the founders themselves. The Founders batch is a group of highly skilled students grouped in a single cluster and taught by the founders of VMC, Brij Mohan Gupta, Shyam Mohan Gupta and Manmohan Gupta. Some of the highlights of the environment at VMC is explained below. Vidyamandir Classes or VMC represents a niche amongst other institutes as being extremely selective during selection
Differing from FIITJEE in this factor, VMC tries to carry all types of students forward with personal attention given to every student. It is a fool’s errand to believe every student will make it to IIT. However, VMC trains a student well enough to clear other competitive exams and make it to decent engineering colleges. In essence, VMC doesn’t believe in leaving someone behind.
VMC is known to be very strict about students following other material as they consider their own material sufficient. This clearly highlights their own self belief in the material they curate. Vidyamandir Classes study material lays more focus on building conceptual knowledge before delving into problem solving. This reflects the adoption of a more patient approach with students rather than shoving down topics down a student’s gullet.
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