PREPARING FOR MAY 7 - NEET at
the door, students rush to coaching centres in scores
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Vinayashree J
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Overcrowded Institutes Turn Away Aspirants, New Ones Mushroom To Cater To Demand
If you happen to walk into a
coaching centre where science students have been huddling this summer,
the four-lettered word you are likely to hear most frequently is NEET.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is indeed the flavour of the
season, until of course the mangoes flood the markets. And to cash in,
several coaching centres in the city have started crash courses. Many
new centres too have mushroomed to train students for the singlewindow
national examination for admission to MBBS and BDS courses scheduled on
May 7.
With state board students unsure about coping with the CBSE
syllabus and students facing stiffer competition due to higher
registration numbers, coaching centres have doubled or tripled the
number of batches.
CBSE too has increased the number of exam centres in Tamil Nadu as registrations have jumped by 41.42% across the country . While some coaching centres said they turned away students as they had exceeded their enrolment capacity, others milked the opportunity and have branched out.Suresh*, whose daughter has been going for coaching classes since she was in Class XI, said the same centre has taken up another building to accommodate more students.
Winner's Academy, which is running a one-month course, said last year it had a single batch of 33 students. “This year, we have two batches of 45 students each. We refused more than 60 students this month,“ said Poonam Gaglani who runs the academy . Centres have been getting calls from anxious students from as far as Krishnagiri, Salem, Tuticorin and Tirunelveli. This, say those running the centres, has pushed up the demand for courses, especially from state board students.Pioneer Academy said 90% of their students are from the Tamil Nadu board.
While most students are opting for crash courses being offered from April to May educationists say a long-term preparation, whether on their own or at coaching centres, will benefit students. “Long-term is always better. There is so much to assimilate in such a short time,“ said Gaglani.
Pioneer Academy's Hemraj said it will take two to three years to see a good performance by state board students.“Many of those attending one-month courses are aiming for private colleges. There is a lot of competition for government seats. Last year, the number of candidates who qualified was lesser than the number of seats,“ he said.
Some centres said many students were enrolling for short-term courses in panic because they did not gauge the level of difficulty posed by NEET earlier. That said, students who have been attending courses for over a year are also joining short-term courses to brush up concepts learnt over the year.
But in the rush, not many are sure if centres are hiring qualified trainers to guide students. “There are many teachers good at teaching Class XI and Class XII syllabus.But they may not be good enough to train students for competitive exams. Whether teachers being hired by coaching centres require professional training has to be explored,“ said Hemraj.
(*Name changed)
CBSE too has increased the number of exam centres in Tamil Nadu as registrations have jumped by 41.42% across the country . While some coaching centres said they turned away students as they had exceeded their enrolment capacity, others milked the opportunity and have branched out.Suresh*, whose daughter has been going for coaching classes since she was in Class XI, said the same centre has taken up another building to accommodate more students.
Winner's Academy, which is running a one-month course, said last year it had a single batch of 33 students. “This year, we have two batches of 45 students each. We refused more than 60 students this month,“ said Poonam Gaglani who runs the academy . Centres have been getting calls from anxious students from as far as Krishnagiri, Salem, Tuticorin and Tirunelveli. This, say those running the centres, has pushed up the demand for courses, especially from state board students.Pioneer Academy said 90% of their students are from the Tamil Nadu board.
While most students are opting for crash courses being offered from April to May educationists say a long-term preparation, whether on their own or at coaching centres, will benefit students. “Long-term is always better. There is so much to assimilate in such a short time,“ said Gaglani.
Pioneer Academy's Hemraj said it will take two to three years to see a good performance by state board students.“Many of those attending one-month courses are aiming for private colleges. There is a lot of competition for government seats. Last year, the number of candidates who qualified was lesser than the number of seats,“ he said.
Some centres said many students were enrolling for short-term courses in panic because they did not gauge the level of difficulty posed by NEET earlier. That said, students who have been attending courses for over a year are also joining short-term courses to brush up concepts learnt over the year.
But in the rush, not many are sure if centres are hiring qualified trainers to guide students. “There are many teachers good at teaching Class XI and Class XII syllabus.But they may not be good enough to train students for competitive exams. Whether teachers being hired by coaching centres require professional training has to be explored,“ said Hemraj.
(*Name changed)
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