Over the past week, several prominent newspapers throughout India showcased full-page advertisements from various coaching institutes and educational institutions specialising in preparing students for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Examination (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) that prominently featured photographs of the toppers, aiming to highlight the coaching institutes’ contribution to their success. However, many contained misleading and often inaccurate claims, such as specific numbers of students in top ranks like the top 10, top 50, or top 100.
Hidden message
These advertisements also announced the commencement of new batches for both regular students and “repeaters”, targeting parents and their children. While each institute must have invested significant sums of money to promote their coaching “services”, it is not surprising that none of these institutes reveal two crucial aspects: i) their success rate in terms of the number of students coached and the number of students who successfully cracked the exam, and ii) the fees charged to each student.
The hidden message was clear: in order to have a successful coaching experience and achieve success, aspiring medical/engineering students must invest significant amounts of money. These advertisements manipulate anxious parents, who are eager to fulfill their dreams of seeing their children become doctors or engineers, into believing that coaching institutes possess miraculous abilities. However, the truth remains that numerous students receive coaching from these institutions, whereas the available seats for medical and engineering programmes are limited. Consequently, many candidates end up unsuccessful, leading to detrimental psychological effects caused by failure.
It is important to examine the influence of coaching factories on our society. One of the most widely shared news stories on social media last week highlighted the remarkable achievement of two students: Prabhanjan from Tamil Nadu and Bora Varun from Andhra Pradesh, who secured the top positions in the NEET 2023 with a “perfect” score of 720. The student who secured the All India Rank (AIR) 3 scored 716, while those who achieved AIR 4-19 scored 715. How did these students manage to accomplish such a feat?
Examining the data
According to a report that interviewed 38 of the top 50 rank holders in NEET 2023, all but one had undergone coaching and, with the exception of one candidate, all qualified on their first attempt. Here are some more details: 29 rank holders attended CBSE schools, and 29 belonged to the general category. Further, 37 studied in schools located in urban areas and invested significant amounts of money in coaching.
There have been noteworthy reports highlighting the achievements of certain individuals. For instance, Kaustav Bauri, a Dalit student in Chennai, secured AIR 3 in NEET. Additionally, 16 students hailing from remote villages in Maharashtra cleared the NEET. They underwent two years of free coaching provided by Lift for Upliftment (LFU), where they were taught by doctors and students from BJ Medical College, Pune. It is worth noting that, among the top 50 candidates, Kaustav is the second Dalit student in the past five years to achieve such a remarkable feat. However, it is important to acknowledge that he comes from a relatively privileged background, as his father is a professor at IIT-Madras, and his mother holds a senior HR position at a Chennai-based IT firm.
These examples clearly demonstrate that students with a strong economic, social, and educational background have a higher likelihood of succeeding in exams like NEET or JEE. Now, several pressing questions emerge: Can a financially disadvantaged student, lacking access to coaching from reputed institutes, successfully crack exams like NEET or JEE? How arduous is it for a student studying in a government school located in a village to qualify for such demanding examinations? Is there an unspoken and unwritten expectation that individuals from impoverished backgrounds should not aspire to become doctors? Shouldn’t it be the government’s responsibility to rectify this unfair and unjust system, which perpetuates inequality within society?
Numerous educationists and activists oppose the NEET due to its inherent bias towards specific segments of society. The underprivileged face significant disadvantages and are unable to pursue their aspirations of becoming doctors due to limited access to coaching facilities. Several state governments have expressed their dissent, arguing that NEET undermines the principles of social justice.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.” Likewise, it is unfair and unjust to expect elephants, monkeys, and fishes to climb trees when stating that “for a fair selection, everybody has to take the same exam”. Those in positions of power must think rationally and ensure justice for students who lack the means to compete on an equal footing with their better-equipped peers. Let’s not forget striving for uniformity kills equality and undermines social justice.
(Views expressed are personal)
The writer is an education columnist and media critic. rayanal@yahoo.co.uk
