The coaching economy

Tamil Nadu's thriving coaching industry offers training for various exams, including NEET, JEE, and professional courses, despite challenges.

For a State that has a strong position against competitive examinations, on the grounds that they are loaded against disadvantaged groups, Tamil Nadu is home to a thriving coaching industry. There are coaching centres for a wide range of exams, including professional degrees such as MBBS, engineering, and management, besides the civil services, State government posts, and teacher recruitment.

After the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) was made mandatory in 2018 and the Tamil Nadu government’s attempts to get the State exempted from its purview failed, the government started separate, free training sessions for government school students to help them sit for the medical entrance test. For several years, the State has been offering training to crack Joint Engineering Examination (JEE), the gateway to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other Central government-funded engineering institutions. The State government also runs programmes for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, footing the cost of boarding and lodging for those who have qualified in the preliminary round. Coaching centres for exams to other professional courses, like chartered accountancy, have mushroomed. However, the State government has no data on the number of these centres or of students enrolled therein.

Anecdotal evidence from parents and students shows they are not averse to taking personal loans to pay for additional coaching if it ensures that the students will get the coveted seat in a professional course. But there are also disappointments. Recently, students of FIIT JEE coaching institute took to the streets in East Delhi alleging that the teachers had shifted to a competitor overnight, leaving them in the lurch. A video on social media cited an old advertisement by FIIT JEE that gave teachers assured hours with students and thus, salaries.

Many years ago, online edutech platforms took the education front by storm, offering attractive packages for students. Their importance grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, but most have disappeared since. Many subscribers to these platforms feel cheated. A homemaker in Tiruchi recalls that when her son enrolled in a four-year package from Class VII at Byju’s, he was more attracted by its offer of a free tablet than the actual coaching. “For the first two years, they kept their promise, with engaging video lessons and a tutor to personally monitor my son’s progress periodically. But when he reached Class X, all the learning materials had become e-books and there were no teachers to clarify doubts,” she says. She had paid ₹40,000, hoping to prepare him for a career in engineering, but he eventually selected the commerce stream as he was not tutored properly in core mathematics during the lockdown period, she says.

Aspirants can join well-known private coaching centres for NEET and JEE through nationwide talent tests. Good scores mean a scholarship. A Chennai-based mother who has enrolled her son in a popular coaching centre for NEET says he sat for the talent test in September. “We have enrolled him in a two-year integrated programme for NEET. They teach the CBSE syllabus, and it costs around ₹2.5 lakh. But if the score is good, you may have to pay less, maybe ₹1.5 to ₹2 lakh,” she says.

The scholarship test syllabus is based on the Class X subjects. Students also take the mock tests on the websites of the coaching institutes. Some online platforms operating from north India use Hindi to teach concepts. Renu*, a CA aspirant, says she joined online coaching two years ago. While coaching for the foundation course was in English, the intermediate lessons are being conducted in Hindi, a language she is not familiar with. “Most of the students attending the online class speak Hindi, so the teacher takes lessons in that language, with some explanations in English. In addition to accountancy, I have picked up Hindi,” she says.

She is preparing for two intermediate papers through two separate online institutes, paying over ₹6,000 for each subject. “I decided not to take the consolidated package, costing ₹60,000 for all subjects, as I want to study each through multiple tuition sources,” she says.