One of the many goals of JEE aspirants is to find themselves a
good coaching institute. Sometimes students join a coaching institute from
class 6 to be better prepared for JEE six years in the future. And with the
rising competition, one can find coaching centres in niche corners of cities
like Kota, Delhi, Jabalpur, Patna, etc.

Many students relocate to Kota, the coaching hub for JEE
aspirants. Anshul Aneta, an aspirant from Kota, said, “The only reason I moved
to Kota is that coaching centres in Udaipur, my hometown, focus more on Class
12 boards and less on JEE. They give importance to JEE till October and after
that they prepare students for board exams.” He continued, “Psychologically
also, my hopes of clearing JEE Advance have increased, after shifting to Kota.”

When students relocate to Kota they know that their parents will
have to shell out a huge sum from their pocket, not just for tuition, but also
for living expenses in the city. The average fees for one year JEE coaching in
Kota is Rs one lakh, while another one lakh is shelled out for boarding and
lodging. JEE aspirants in Kota have day-long classes from 8 a.m. to 2
p.m. or from 2 p.m. to
8p.m., which means, the the day is majorly devoted to
studies. On the other hand, city-based coaching institutes conduct classes only
after regular school hours, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Another aspirant from Kota, Shubham
Gupta, said, “Despite regular illness of my father, I have shifted here to
study. The teaching faculty here has more experience as compared to the
teachers back in my hometown.”

However, not all aspirants change cities for JEE coaching, even
though the average fees ranges between Rs 70,000 to Rs two lakh in cities like
Patna, Mumbai, and Jabalpur etc. PaGaLGuY spoke to some students who are
preparing for JEE from their hometowns itself. “I wanted to go to Delhi
for my JEE preparations, but I got a scholarship here in Patna. Passing the
scholarship test boosted my confidence. I used to follow video lectures on
YouTube too,” said Satyendra Kumar, a JEE aspirant from Patna. Some students do
not shift to other cities for coaching because they would have to leave their
comfort zone and stay away from family. Another aspirant from Bhopal, said,
“I did not relocate to Kota or Delhi because it would mean unnecessary
expenses for my father. Moreover, I acquainted with the faculty members at my
coaching institute and one of them resides in my vicinity. If I need extra
help, I can visit him as per my convenience.”

One important factor why local institutes are flourishing, is
because of the trust factor, because anyhow the fees does not create much of a
difference. Dinesh Mishra, Director of Radiance, a Jabalpur based coaching
centre, said, “Parents today are rational. They see which institute is
generating better JEE results and not just involved in sheer marketing. We have
a total strength of about 900 students, and in 2014, there were 40 students in
the top 1000 JEE Advanced ranks from our regular classroom programme.” The
number of students who cleared JEE in 2002 from Jabalpur were only three
and in 2015, it was 90. Rakesh Pawar, professor at Tripti Agarwal Classes,
Bhopal, said, “Students and parents trust city based institutes because
they know we cannot lie about our results, and poaching is not possible. We will
lose our reputation of past 25 years in a moment if we even try to do something
like this.”

Today, around 12 lakh students around the country are preparing
for the JEE 2016. Most of them want to secure a seat in an IIT, and this is
where coaching institutes come in. “Big coaching institutes distribute
students on the basis of their academic capabilities. And then the quality of
teachers also changes. But this doesn’t happen at smaller institutes,”
said a faculty member of Daryani classes, Jabalpur. Another city-based coaching
institute had a similar opinion. “I am not opening any other centres in
the city because then students and parents will expect me to teach at all
centres, which is not possible,” said Amardeep Jha Gautam, Director, Elite
Institute, Patna.

A major problem faced by a 16 year old, Bikaner-based institute,
is the low density of students in the Bikaner belt. Ravi Sardana, faculty
member at Concept Educare, said, “There are not enough students around Bikaner
who want to pursue a career in the field of sciences, and the few good quality
students usually migrate to Kota. But this is where our challenge lies. We
train the average students to generate good results.”

In addition to providing professional teachers, and study
material, coaching institutes are supposed to provide a competitive learning
environment to the students. There are a number of coaching centres around the
country who are training JEE aspirants to achieve their goals. Students want to
stay in a competitive atmosphere, giving coaching institutes options to expand
from city to city. However, it is not the coaching fees that holds back a
student from relocating, it is the geographical preferences.