NEET coaching centres mushroom in Tiruchi

(File Photo)

Institutions offering coaching for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) have mushroomed in the city despite stiff opposition from the Tamil Nadu government against the entrance test for medical admissions.

Coaching and private tuition centres have sprung up in different parts of Tiruchi offering courses that promise to prepare higher secondary school students for the crucial examination.

Costing anywhere between Rs. 15000 to Rs. 1.5 lakh, the courses are of a varying duration, from a few weeks to one year. The centres have been advertising aggressively too. Some leading higher secondary schools (State and CBSE syllabus) have tied up with coaching centres for NEET preparatory courses. But how does this all translate into results?

“NEET training is a big opportunity for coaching centres, but the quality of education is a big question mark,” R.V.S. Muralidhar, managing director, Seekers Educational Services. The 17-year-old institution trains students for competitive and scholarship examinations, and is collaborating with several CBSE and Samacheer Kalvi schools in Tiruchi for NEET as well.

“Though 46,000 students in Tamil Nadu have cleared NEET, very few people have actually got good scores, which is what matters,” said Mr. Muralidhar.

S. Sethuraman, who runs the Nivedita Career Academy in Thillai Nagar, said that the State’s objection to NEET had delayed the application process, and left Tamil Nadu’s students unprepared for the examination’s format this year. “Most parents continue to be obsessed with the final board examination results and fail to realise that a competitive examination such as NEET requires at least a year’s preparation,” Mr. Sethuraman said.

The centre’s ‘crash course’ costs Rs. 12,000, while a year-long course is pegged at Rs. 35,000. “Schools should invest more time and effort in teaching children how to attempt NEET but they prefer to see coaching centres as their rivals. Currently, schools are unfit to conduct NEET courses with their existing infrastructure,” he said. Getting trained faculty is yet another issue that needs attention, said Mr. Muralidhar of Seekers. “When schools cannot find qualified staff for their daily teaching, how do coaching centres manage to get professionally trained teachers for these courses?” he asks.

Mr. Muralidhar said that NEET would improve educational standards in the long run. “Our State Board syllabus is quite powerful on its own, but we need to train the teachers for NEET instruction separately,” he said. He advised parents and students to change their mindset towards the entrance test. “Most State board students are used to get questions ahead of the examination. So it is a presentation of lessons rather than any actual learning. A transition from this sort of spoon-feeding system has to take place soon,” said Mr. Muralidhar. “It is not fair to pamper children up to Class 10, and then suddenly subject them to highly competitive examination after school,” he said.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/neet-coaching-centres-mushroom-in-tiruchi/article19261520.ece