Ludhiana, July 16
For many city students, who have been able to get admissions in good medical and engineering colleges in the country, there have been rewards and scholarships by school authorities as well as coaching centres. The expenses incurred by these students, during coaching and admissions, have now turned out to be a profitable investment.
One such case is that of Mohit Gogia, a student of DAV Public School, who got 94th rank in the IIT and has now joined B.Tech in computer science in the IIT, Mumbai. The value of scholarships and other gifts, which he received from the coaching centres, have crossed the charges he had to pay during two years of coaching.
While Mohit Gogia is away to Mumbai on a tour organised in his honour by a private academy, his mother, Ms Krishna Gogia, proudly narrated his success story. “Mohit was doing a correspondence course from an academy based in Mumbai. The academy gave him a concession on the basis of his result in Class X examinations. He had to pay Rs 7,000 as the fee, but in return they have now given him a scholarship of Rs 7,500 for getting a rank within top 100 in the IIT entrance test. Besides, the academy has arranged a four-day trip to Mumbai, which included his travel, lodging and food,” she said.
Ms Gogia said Mohit had also taken coaching from another institute, based in New Delhi, which had given him 35 per cent concession on the basis of a test conducted by them prior to the course. He had to pay Rs 4,100 but after his success in the IIT, the academy would give him a scholarship of Rs 2,000 per semester for all four years of engineering for purchasing books.
Similarly, Mayank Kukreja, a student from BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, who has now joined the IIT, New Delhi for engineering in computer science, said he recently received a scholarship of Rs 1,000 from a private academy in New Delhi. The same academy had also offered him a 50 per cent concession for the course on the basis of a test conducted by them.
Mayank, however, has no regrets on the amount of money he spent on coaching as he believes that he has achieved what he aimed for. He was already getting a scholarship of Rs 1,700 per year on the basis of National Talent Search Examination (NTSE). The new scholarship, he said, would help him purchase books when he starts his graduation.
Even Brijesh Takkar, a student from Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School, who had topped the AIIMS entrance test, has no qualms on spending money on coaching. His mother, Dr Rita Takkar, said there were no major expenses now as the fee, which he would have to pay annually, would be just Rs 470, including hostel charges, with Rs 500 as a refundable security.
But the picture is not rosy for those who have failed and incurred financial losses after taking coaching from private academies and paying for entrance tests and prospectuses in different colleges all over India.
Even after spending Rs 27,000 on private coaching for different subjects and Rs 9,000 on mock tests, Neelam (name changed), a medical student, has not been able to get admission to any medical college. In fact, she failed to get a good rank in the CBSE-PMT, the Punjab-PMT and other tests. Now her only hope is the result of the Manipal entrance test, which is expected in a day or two. A little pessimistic, she said if she did not get through this year, she would drop a year.
But on coaching, she says, “No! Not again. I have already spent a lot of money from my parents’ pocket and I would now study on my own. I belong to a middle class family. Both my parents are working and I realise the kind of hardships they have to face while shelling out large sums of money on my education.”
In yet another case, Gursimran Kaur (not her real name), also a medical student, has not been able to get through any of the medical entrance tests. She is also waiting for the result of the Manipal entrance test and Guru Ram Dass Medical College, Amritsar, through the Sikh minority quota.
Her father told The Tribune that he had spent nearly Rs 30,000 on private coaching and Rs 11,000 on mock tests during the past four months. He said he was running a chemist shop and his wife owned a boutique. The couple had been saving every single penny for the education of their two daughters and had to spend a lot of money on the education of their elder daughter, who is currently doing BDS in Patiala.
