After being at a standoff with coaching institutes for years, more and more Indian schools are now accepting that coaching is the way to go. So much so that many schools are now offering coaching for entrance examinations to their students.
Mostly offered at an additional cost, coaching and board exam training is emerging as an “integrated” schooling trend across the country. Many believe that students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have gained top ranks in this year’s NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) and JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) because of a different approach the states have taken towards coaching, as opposed to traditional coaching after school.
These states in the IIT Hyderabad zone (Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry) have popular residential schools, which offer both traditional teaching as well as train students for entrance exams. The phenomenon is believed to be expanding.
Parents not schools pushing for integrated curriculum
“We have seen an increase in demand from parents to offer training for entrance exams. If we do not give that, they would consider other schools that do,” said Vinay Raj Modi, vice-president of Unaided Private School Association in Madhya Pradesh.
Modi said training at schools was a safer option. “The government, too, has schemes of residential training schools that help students with entrance exam coaching. If private schools also offer the facility, as an add-on voluntary basis offering, there is no harm. Students with high aspirations do opt for coaching after school, which charge in lakhs. Plus, at schools, students are in safe hands and have safe company too.”
CUET another factor
Many academicians claim that the Central University Entrance Test (CUET) has increased the number of students going in for coaching. Earlier, only those enrolled in medical and non-medical streams would take coaching for their entrance exams like NEET and JEE. But now, admissions that would earlier take place based on Class XII results – University of Delhi and other central universities – now accept students based on CUET.
“Students earlier considered admission to central universities as a good option based on Class XII board exam scores; however, with the introduction of CUET for admission to top institutes, including University of Delhi, students are realising the gap between board exams and coaching syllabus. This has given rise to a reverse trend where more schools are accepting coaching institutes and are trying to incorporate it in their curriculum,” said Ramesh Batlish, expert at FIITJEE in Noida, which is a popular coaching institute offering training for JEE Main and JEE Advanced, National Talent Search Examination among others.
What is an integrated curriculum?
In some schools, preparation for college entrance exams starts as early as Class IX. Schools are asking teachers from coaching institutes to tie-up with them to offer extra classes after school but for a higher pay.
An official from the Narayana Group, an integrated schooling system that offered some toppers in competitive exams over the years, told News18, “We pick up curriculum from multiple boards. While we train students in CBSE textbooks, we also go beyond and check if there are topics in CISCE and state boards that are being taught at the same levels but are not part of CBSE. This helps students to get exposed to wider and deeper aspects of the subject matter.”
“Further, for those keen on competitive exams, we offer national level tests that allow kids to get their performance assessment among a larger pool of students. Such tests provide students a sense of where they stand at that point of time among their peers, not just in their school but across the country,” the official added.
Fewer takers for Kota, students pick destinations closer home
“Children who do not have access to good pedagogy and infrastructure at their schools or cities opt to go to distant cities for coaching. Earlier, with fewer options, students from Tier-3 towns used to go to coaching hubs, now with more integrated options available or online teachings, parents prefer sending kids to school or institutes nearby over a coaching institute in a different location,” said the official from Narayana Institutes.
“Students’ interest in leaving home and studying at coaching hubs like Kota is declining. Pandemic-led online learning has made students comfortable in adopting multiple e-learning resources while at home. Kids also get moral and emotional support from their families. Since training for coaching can be exhausting, parents too are encouraging students to take up coaching nearby,” Batlish said.
This has resulted in students from not only coaching hubs but from across states featuring in this year’s entrance exam results, Batlish added.
Students from IIT Hyderabad zone grab top spots
Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy from IIT Hyderabad zone topped JEE Advanced 2023 by obtaining 341 marks out of 360. The topper among females, Nayakanti Naga Bhavya Sree, too, was from the same zone. Top rank among EWS candidates, Yakkanti Pani Venkata Maneendhar Reddy; topper in OBC-NCL category, Dasari Saketh Naidu; topper in ST category, Dheeravath Thanuj; and EWS-PwD category topper Ashish Kumar, were all from IIT Hyderabad region. In the overall rank list, the first, second, fifth, seventh and ninth spots went to students from IIT Hyderabad zone.
For NEET 2023, there were two toppers – Prabanjan J and Bora Varun Chakravarthi with 720 out of 720 marks. Both were from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In fact, among the top 10, four students are from Tamil Nadu and one each from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Taking the total to six out of 10 being from the same zone.