‘Coaching supports the formal education setup’

Every industry has been hit by the global slowdown. However, education is still witnessing a boom. Even coaching classes which are non formal education institutes have become irreplaceable.

Need for Coaching Classes… 
 "Many coaching classes have started pioneering country wide video conferencing based education. This helps more number of students to gain access to the best lectures and saves the faculty’s time," said Bhavesh Bhatt, of Sukh Sagor Institute.
Experts believe that distance in video conferencing is not a drawback."Performance of students who learn in a classroom and those who learn via video conferencing session is the same. There's no confusion in their understanding or learning of subjects," said Pravin Tyagi of IIT-ian’s PACE.

"We use this technology in over 32 centres. After a one hour lecture, we have a separate half hour of interactive session. Over 10 to 12 questions can be easily solved in this time by the teacher," explained Bhatt.

Panelists also realised the importance of teacher training and evaluation. "We ask students to evaluate the teachers on the basis of their performance. The result is then communicated to the teachers and if their score is below a certain mark then they are asked to quit," said MH Kalra of Kalra Shukla classes. "Even while selecting professors we observe their classroom sessions and if satisfied only then do we hire them," he added.

Teaching Edge
Sudhanshu Sinhal of Sinhal classes  pointed out that a professor has to be like a showman and captivate students with his performance. "We choose teachers not just on the basis of their qualification, but on the basis of how popular they are with students, "said Vishwas Deshpande of Vidyalankar classes.

Experts also agreed that coaching classes are indispensable due to their structured teaching techniques. While Rahul Kamat of Vidyasagar Classes said, "We teach students the outcomes before starting a topic; so that they know what they have to achieve while learning." 

At Mahesh Tutorials teachers are made to embrace technology in every lecture. "In civics, we show students videos from TV channels, for instance, of how a bill becomes a law,” said Mahesh Shetty adding," The professor's role becomes one of mentoring students and helping them discuss concepts in class." 

While Lokesh Khandelwal of Resonance shared, "We teach them the genesis of formulas and help them visualise concepts which make learning unforgettable."  Sinhal highlighted, "We hold concept quizzes in class on math formulas, chemistry equations, biology diagrams that increase the involvement of students."

Shirish M Vyas of Prime Vision Commerce Classes underlined three steps that coaching classes help students do. "Understanding the concepts, remembering them via use of pneumonics and mainly learning to express them in words, is what we teach students."

Beyond the classroom
Coaching Classes have survived as they offer facilities that extend to match to the needs of students. This was highlighted in the fact of Mahesh Tutorials holding yoga classes to help their students and Kalra Shukla classes opening a 24 hour free library of 15000 books to cater to medical students in the city. 

"We have performance oriented batches for students so that the teaching can be adjusted to their learning curve. We are also starting a group on Facebook for fun 20 minute tests on MHT-CET and AIEEE, said Sinhal.

While Tyagi said, "We have noticed that students study best in groups and  get top ranks in IIT-JEE. We encourage this community learning habit in them."

Stress in students only comes due to uncertainty. “We have continuous academic counselling throughout the year, a 24X7 helpline and chatrooms to help them reach out to professors during their study leave,” said Kamat. Shetty informed, "We have started a school where students study only for three hours and then they decide what skills they want to hone for the rest of their day." Experts are also looking at blending blogs and online forums into the course design.

Collaboration with Colleges…
Taking forward their role as a support function to the formal education institutes coaching classes have started collaborating with them. "We are going to provide integrated courses for IIT-JEE aspirants in Mithibhai, Ruia and Jai Hind College. Students will be taught Physics, Chemistry and Maths (PCM) by our professors in the college and they won't have to attend separate coaching for it," said Khandelwal.

IIT-ian's PACE has collaborated with DG Ruparel, KC, Sathaye College/ TP Bhatia Kandivali School, Podar School CBSE and Gopalsharma Memorial School.  "In this integrated tie-up the student will be taught PCM in the college/ school premises by our faculty, three days a week and six hours a day," said Tyagi.