Mr. Yash Verma is the Director of Aarambh Classes, run by DY Educational Trust, in Lucknow.

We spoke to him about engineering and IIT entrance coaching.

When do students approach you for coaching for exams?

We see students come to us at 3 different times during their schooling:

– When they are in the 9th standard, they approach us to start their preparation for entrance exams. These are usually local students, who go to school in the day and come for coaching in the evening.

– When they are in the 11th standard, they approach us for their college studies and for entrance prep. These too are primarily local students.

– When they have already passed their 12th standard board exams. These are students from upcountry and outstation students, who choose to take a gap year or break in their studies to prepare for the engineering entrance exams.

Why do some students take that post-12th break?

You find students from smaller cities moving to Mumbai & New Delhi because these cities have more options for education than their hometowns. Similarly, these students do not have much option near their homes where they can prepare well for entrance exams along with their college education. Hence, they choose to finish their 12th first, and then prepare for IITs. The current structure allows them to do so for one year, so they can give the exam one more time after giving it during their 12th. This also gives them one more option, so if they failed to get into a good course the first time around, they can try once more.

What innovations do you use to teach students?

Our primary faculty has over 12 years of experience, and are from IIT Kanpur. Direct access to such senior faculty is of paramount importance as they are able to help students learn better through direct coaching.
Our teaching is also industry oriented, where we use models imported from institutes abroad, for practicals and science displays. We have international content and video lectures that continually help students progress in their studies.

Do you recognise good talent, and how do you approach their studies?

We hold an entrance test, and select 30 students (from across categories, unlike the Special 30 program, which takes only SC/ST candidates) for advanced coaching. We provide them with more access to their coaches, and train them better in these exams.
We do not limit the teaching to just the JEE Main/Advanced exams, but also train them for other exams like BITSAT, VITEEE, SRMJEEE, etc. The reason is simple: not all students can get into IITs. We understand that, and hence train them accordingly, to ensure that they get into exceptionally good colleges, like NITs, VIT, BITS, etc.

What is your take on engineering colleges, outside the IITs and other major institutes, in Uttar Pradesh?

We can’t call them ‘engineering colleges.’ They charge Rs. 10-12 Lakhs as fees, and how much will the students earn after graduating? Not more than Rs 10-12 thousand a month. Is that ‘engineering’? Can we really call these graduates ‘engineers’? These colleges are using an outdated syllabus, which is at least six years overdue for an update.
Your package in your first job has to be related to your performance in college. It is easy to put in 18-19 hours of work in a day when you are studying, whether you are in an IIT or in any other college. When you are in an IIT, your efforts get rewarded with comparative ease, which is difficult to attain in other colleges like UPTU, Amity, etc.

This interview was conducted by @grondmaster