The Hindu Business Line : Selecting the coach, for IIT entrance

My son is doing Standard XI, Matriculation syllabus. Many private study centres in Coimbatore are offer IIT-JEE foundation courses. But there is no benchmark or standard for such institutes. I would like to know if it will be as beneficial as advertised by these centres.

P. N. Jayagopal

As IITs open the doors to great opportunities, the competition to get in is very high. Hence preparations for the entrance examination also start very early on. Big coaching institutions advertise to get the bright students who are selected after a screening test. Many also have proven methodologies.

No doubt big names offer good study materials. But the moot question is whether there is a proper oral coaching centre in the city where the student wants to undergo regular coaching. Relevant are the track record of the local coaching centre, the credentials of the faculty, and the number of successful students they have produced. It is also not unusual to see drop-outs from IIT coaching classes with some students unable to cope with the pressure.

It is of fundamental importance that the student should be willing to put in the extra effort and be prepared to balance the demands of regular school and IIT study. Certain school managements encourage their students to pursue such coaching. The co-operation of the school authorities in this regard is required for time management

Since your son is studying in Matriculation stream, he has to put in extraordinary effort to stay in the race. Also, as a back-up to IIT, he should concentrate on his Matriculation studies and score very high marks so that he can join a prestigious college in case he fails to get into IIT. Before sending him to IIT coaching, you have to assess various factors such as his aptitude, academic performance, the co-operation of his school management, the availability of reliable oral coaching centre locally and so on.

Send in your queries to CareerCrossroads@gmail.com

P. N. Jayagopal