Coaching Classes: Path to Success?

Academics has been an essential part of everyone’s life ever since the concept of learning was incorporated. It is as old as time in itself, which led to the rise of educational institutions that were and still are functional in terms of greater learning. With the breakdown of education into several branches like Science, Commerce and Arts, there are multiple competitive examinations and test schemes around the world that are meant to judge and analyse the potential of a candidate. That is where the coaching classes/preparatory schools come into the big picture, standing in a distinguished fashion amongst the renowned institutions.

Unfolding the Importance

Coaching institutes have been a fundamental node in the overall process of higher education, and they continue to be crucial even during Covid. Every passing year, the number of students applying for competitive exams such as the SATskeeps rising, which leads to more competition among the applicants. In such cases, parents and students are prone to believe in the culture of coaching institutes and after-school tuitions, which is an established concept in most Asian countries.

With the advent of technology, coaching institutes are known to hire highly competent and expert professors who try out their separate and unique ways of innovative learning.

• This is generally done via a 3-step process of read, revise and repeat, where the syllabus is covered well ahead of time with personalized tests on a weekly basis with term end mock exams.
• Furthermore, during the pandemic, the shift from offline to online lectures was a lot simpler for these coaching classes due to the segregation of lectures with approximately 30% of the number of students in a real classroom at some school.
• With the correct software and thoughtful planning, the lectures and tests could be conducted, monitored, and analysed with more ease and yield similar, if not better results.

Coaching Classes - Necessary?

One of the factors the general crowd tends to overlook is that schools often encourage the students to focus on co-curricular activities. Although beneficial, this does account for exhaustion and hence leads to less amount of focus and study time. Besides this, every student has individual sets of strengths and weaknesses, and it isn’t always possible to tailor to specific needs in a huge classroom.

This is where the pragmatical approach for students is to join coaching classes.

• The lecture hours are focused solely on studying and with a class of a smaller number of individuals, the professor is able to focus more on each child.
• Furthermore, technological advancements have led the coaching institutes to invest in smart classrooms that utilise e-learning techniques such as audio-visual teaching methods.
• The students are often equipped with personalized study programs that are structured according to their needs even beyond the coaching classes.

Let’s discuss the Cons

With every positive idea comes a set of drawbacks that need to be addressed for an overall success. The following reasons map certain cons of a coaching institution.

• Coaching institutes often charge hefty amounts as tuition fee which isn’t always the most affordable option for the parents. During lockdown, these institutes unlike most schools and universities, did not ask for a cut in the fees although the classes were conducted online.
• Often, the structure of a coaching class differs from that of the school. With different individuals coming from different schools, coming up with a generalized study pattern is not always the most viable option.
• Students complain regularly regarding the added stress of attending extra lectures post school. It is a general idea that this is due to the additional homework they receive at both ends.

Therefore, what can be understood from analysing the positives and negatives of the concept of coaching institutes is that they are definitely beneficial for a student in their preparation for competitive examinations as long as the pedagogy is structured in coherence to their school pattern. The uniqueness of each kid can be observed at a miniscule level in coaching classes and thereby the weaknesses can be eliminated which leads to a better performance. If the balance between schooling and coaching is achieved by discussing and researching both the spheres, it is possible for every aspiring student to achieve their highest potential.