There is a city in India which is one of its kind! I mean because of its transition from a village to a city happened in a short span of 20 years. Normally, this should not grab attention as most parts of India have grown up in similar time-frames to become mini-metros. The paradigm shift was brought about either by an industrial boom in the vicinity or the influence of a powerful politician.But 'Kota' is unique- it is a city that survives on an industry which requires the intellectual power of half the country, the great coaching tamasha.
Coaching was never an alien concept in India. It probably started pre-independence when English slowly gained acceptance amongst India's urban class. Being short-handed, most parents would call tutors to teach their wards enough grammar in order to pass the SSC exam. But there was no corporatization present, most of the tutors were Intermediate passed jobless men who made a dime for their family through coaching. On the other hand, there were known names too in cities like Allahabad and Delhi, which admitted student to prepare for perhaps the most prestigious examination in India to date-Indian Civil Services. It was considered a privilege of the elite, as preparation went on for an average of 3-4 years after graduation and the selection rate was peanuts compared to the number of applicants.Underneath the development of India as an economic and intellectual power was a wave of higher education which would assumer mammoth proportions in years to come, the IITs.
If we go towards the beginning of the first known coaching in India, the Bansal Classes, Kota was just like any other ordinary town in Rajasthan. Lack of electricity & water, a high rate of unemployment due to the bludgeoning of a nearby cement factory by the worsening credit crisis prevalent in the 80's. The 'Joint Entrance Examination' or the JEE was still considered the epitome of hard work and sharp brain. No one cared to even attempt it if he wasn't among the top of his class. But IITs were bringing fame to India from all corners of the world due to the good performance of its alumni and there popularity as growing throughout India. The economic conditions only favored the stiff competiton- our economy was bust and the number of jobless outnumbered those with a PSU job. IITs were considered a safe bet compared to universities or art colleges as they promised a future for anyone who managed to complete his stay there.Perhaps it was sharp business acumen, perhaps it was the will of an academian, but
Mr. V.K.Bansal decided to start a revolution-establishing the first coaching class for JEE at Kota in 1985. It was a unique step if you consider the logistics involved. Kota was no where near the perfect city a parent would send his child to stay and prepare for 2,3,4 or even 5 years. It was tucked away in the hot and arid Rajasthan, with the only claim to fame being a Nuclear energy power plant nearby. Bansal turned each question on the validity of his location to his advantage. Kota was away from the noise of a city, so students can focus solely on cracking the 'toughest' exam in the world without worrying about a visit from home or television. Bansal Classes started a trend which led to the establishment of numerous other coachings within 5 years. Retired IIT profs and young graduates shifted base to Kota and established competitors like Resonance and Narayana. Soon an hierachy was established and Bansal was still the place to be if you wanted to have the best chance of cracking the JEE. The city itself metamorphosed into a student republic. Every house had rooms rented to students, there were messing facilities in every corner of the city and even businesses like stationary and laundry adapted themselves according to the students, who would flock into the city in tunes of tens of thousands to achieve every middle-class family's dream.
When Kota got saturated, new centres came up: Hyderabad,Kanpur,Mumbai, Patna,etc. Soon, every district in India had a coaching class devoted to JEE preparation. The bigger players hired IIT graduates and professors, the lesser ones opted for teachers fired from the notable centres to make a name in their locality. In 25 years, JEE coaching has turned into a 10,000 crore industry in India according to ASSOCHAM. This figure may be inflated, but in my opinion, the exact aount may be higher than this. An average student spends Rs.1 lakh per annum in Kota while those preparing from their hometown spend anything close to Rs. 40k-50k per annum. Therefore, if we draw a rough estimate for the 4 lakh candidates who appeared in JEE 2009 , the figure would cross the amount easily. And this doesn't even include Medical and AIEEE coaching.
Coaching has had a deep effect on the psyche of an avergae Indian family. It is a symbol of prestige and spending power as much as it is a symbol of exhibitioning one's ward. Parents spend half of their annual income, take loans from banks or relatives to finance a trip to the magic land of numbers, without caring for the inclination of their child or his wish to pursue engineering or not. This has resulted in a win-win situation for these classes. An average student who wouldn't dream to get into IIT now hopes so and walks into a coaching class to push him towards the ultimate gratification of clearing the JEE. Little do they realize that the failure rate stacks up the odds against them and they are just not made for engineering. I have known friends who wasted 2-3 precious years trying to get through and ultimately realized they are not made for this. All are happy pursuing their interests right now. This is also a reflection of our rigid education system, which streamlines students into Maths and Biology post 10th standard and then forces them to slog it out for the limited opportunities available. A doctor is respected in India, an arts student is not. Only medicine or engineering can make lives of the coming generations prosperous! No one cares about the interest of a child, what he actually wants to do and how he wants to do it. This is a great moment for the Indian middle-class to reflect upon it's postion in the 21st century and decide how it wants the future of this country to be. Will aptitude gain victory over convention? We'll have to wait and see.
Till then, the great coaching candy will contue to lure helpless students towards it!
