Editor's note - An exclusive interview by our correspondent of a notable figure in the coaching industry in Kota. This interview gives the point of view of the teachers in the coaching institutes, who mould the minds of the new generation of students while preparing them for competitive entrance examinations.

Correspondent's Note - It's a dream come true when you get to sit across a table for an interview from the person who has influenced your thinking in life. An IITian himself, Mr. Sudeept Chaturvedi, is known for his radical thinking. He is currently the Senior Faculty, Physics at Bansal Classes Pvt. Ltd., Kota. He shares his views on the fuss created regarding the coaching phenomenon and his concerns about the Indian education system in an exclusive interview for SMU!

Let’s get straight into the debate. It’s IITs’ v/s coaching classes. Both have been aiming guns at each other. Where do you stand on this debate?

My viewpoint is that, coaching is being provided in every sphere of life, in sports, in music and many other spheres. Actually, coaching is a supporting system to make the person or a student help achieve his goal. A coaching institute is a group of specialized persons who do a specialized job and help the students to move in a particular direction to achieve their goal smartly. That is the main goal of coaching classes. We only help them or guide them to work smartly and it is the students who do the hard work. Now, if a doctor gives a medicine to his patient but the patient isn’t willing to accept it to reap the benefit of the medicine, who is to be blamed? Same way, when a coaching class teacher gives some knowledge or a particular concept to his group of students, and if the students aren’t ready to accept it, what can the coaching class do? It’s just mutual cooperation to achieve a goal. So, I don’t think coaching classes are giving any type of negative impact on the growth of a student. We are simply helping them to achieve their goal easily and nothing is new in this coaching system, though it has been hyped nowadays in the field of education. Otherwise, coaching has been taking place since ancient times in every sphere of life.

Many public figures have the view that the innovative culture in the IITs’ is being curbed by the coaching phenomenon. Don’t you agree?

No, I don’t agree with this. I want to ask how it is being curbed.

Lot of fuss has been created regarding the change in selection criteria for IITJEE from 2013. What do you think would be the most appropriate selection criteria?

Whatever criteria IIT has been following is a very good criteria and this type of selection procedure is one of the best in the world. That is why IIT has gained popularity across the globe. No doubt, the aptitude test that they are planning to incorporate is a good idea but till now, whatever question paper they have been making is all about testing the aptitude only. The recognition that IIT gets or the platform on which IIT is standing in the world is all because of the selection criteria of the IIT. I don’t think there is any problem with the selection criteria. I don’t know why there is so much worry about the selection criteria.

Aren’t the IITs’ and the IITians’ over hyped in our society or do they really deserve the hype?

If there is smoke then there may be fire somewhere. There is a truth in all this hype. One of the truths is the large vacuum in terms of quality between the IITs’ and the other institutes present in India. IITs’ have a very nice academic environment, lots of facilities, good professors and good students. The students are getting good placements. So may be the results that students are achieving after becoming an IITian, is actually creating this hype. IITians get recognition worldwide and they are doing great job in whatever field they are involved. I don’t think there is anything false in this hype. They deserve the hype.

SMU! has got the numbers and even majority of the student community in Kota feel the same that the success rate of the coaching institutes in Kota is very poor.

If you see the overall selection percentage in IITJEE, around 4 Lakh students are appearing and only a meager 10,000 of them get selected, that is a success rate of 2.5%. Comparing with this, at least for Bansal Classes, or for that matter, overall in Kota, if you see the rate of success, it is much higher than 2.5%. I don’t think the success rate is poor in Kota.

Students who come to Kota are all 16 year old teenagers. Till then, they studied only when their parents told them to, did their homework when their teachers asked them to and suddenly they are put in a different environment where the teachers don’t care what the students are doing, the parents are sitting far away to know what’s actually happening and there is no school to look after the personal growth of a student. Basically, why is personal care not being given?

See, this is a short term education imparting institute. Students come here to get selected in IIT. The students in 11^th std. are given a lot of personal care. We teach them in a very cordial and friendly way. We do take care of them regarding their academics. If they aren’t clear with their doubts in the class, we help them outside the class. The teacher helps them personally. If he isn’t available, he arranges doubt clearing sessions for them. This isn’t completely true that we aren’t giving any personal care .It is right that the personal care a student deserves to receive just as he would get in a school is not being provided here. But in fact, that’s also not possible because it’s a short term association in which we have to complete the vast syllabus and most importantly the no. of students is huge. We are committed to complete their course curriculum within the stipulated time and if we aren’t able to do it, then it’s not right on our part. So in process of giving service to the students regarding their academics, we do take personal care of them but in other spheres of their lives, no doubt, we aren’t able to take care of them that much .Still we have arranged for their medical care We have officials who are designated so that they can help them regarding their personal problems. Teacher always gives them the opportunity to talk to them freely. There are help desks designed by Bansal Classes where they can rectify their problems.

Bansal Classes was regarded as the Mecca of the coaching industry, but since a year or two, the situation seems slightly altered.

The situation is still the same and nothing has changed. If you just name Bansal Classes, people still have reverence for the institute and for Mr. V.K Bansal. This is still persisting . I don’t think the reverence Bansal Classes deserves or which Bansal Classes has been receiving has been anyway let down till date.

We hear it from everyone; everywhere that our education system is not right but rarely has anyone precisely mentioned what is it that is lacking in our education system.

India hasn’t been able to find the balance between quantity and quality. Where there is quantity, there is no quality. India has large number of schools but most of them lack basic amenities. And where there is quality, there is no quantity, just as there are very few good institutes like the IITs. See, it’s a very broad topic to be spoken but precisely I will talk about my field, especially about the engineering field or the JEE field. I can quote an example that the physics syllabus of 11^th demands a lot of usage of calculus which is a part of mathematics , being taught in 12^th .Such type of discrepancies are present in our course curriculum. If there is any academic problem in managing this, then we must sit together and change the course curriculum to make it easier for the students to grasp the fundamentals of calculus and then apply it in Physics.

I have become a little more precise regarding my field but the topic of education system is a very broad topic that needs exhaustive discussion.

Finally for all the aspirants and SMU! readers, what is the secret behind cracking competitive entrance exams?

We basically tell students to work smartly rather than to just keep on working hard. Smart work incorporates many things. You should know what the exam is demanding, what you have to do and how you have to do and all these are being told to them by their respective teachers who are specialized to do their job. One of the ways to achieve this is by daily practice problem (DPP) sheet that is a feature of Bansal Classes. This is a dynamic way of preparing . The static way is:- once you’ve studied the chapter, you do questions and go to the next chapter and forget the previous chapter. In the DPP way of preparation, what we do is, we give few questions on the present chapter and few questions on the previous chapters that we have already taught. We never let the students forget the old chapters even though they aren’t revising those chapters literally. Through the questions in DPP, the students are involved in the dynamic cycle of revision so that every topic is on their tips. Periodic review tests and random quizzes also enhance their skills. Obviously interaction with the teacher in the class is most important .Students are free to interact even about the previous chapters. What we always motivate students is to be interactive in the class. If the student has passion, motivation, interaction and faith in oneself then he can definitely taste the success.

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SMU! Articles - Investigative

Posted by Pushpak Chakraborty Dec 14, 2011

Exclusive Interview with Mr. Sudeept Chaturvedi

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