The multi-
million dollar coaching
industry in Kota
continues to thrive
despite a change in the
examination pattern.
What's more, the
decision to give 40%
weightage to Class 12
marks aiming to wipe
off the coaching
industry has instead
opened floodgates for
coaching institutes.
"The change in IIT-JEE
exam pattern has
created even most
space for us. The 40%
weightage to Class 12
marks has opened a
new stream of coaching
for CBSE exams of
Classes 11 and 12," said
Manoj Sharma, vice-
president (operations &
business development),
Resonance Eduventures
Pvt Ltd, in Kota.
As soon as the Class 12
exams get over, several
students aspiring to
make it to the IITs
make a beeline at
coaching centres in Kota
to enquire about various
courses. This year,
coaching institutes
expect the number of
such aspirants to be
over 1.30 lakh.
In 2012-13, around 1.10
lakh students came to
Kota to prepare for
competitive exams,
including IIT-JEE, AIEEE,
AIPMT, state PMTs and
various other medical
entrance examinations.
Around 75% of the
aspirants who come
here are from other
states. They enroll for
short-term or a two-
year full-time coaching
programme to prepare
for these entrance
exams. A few others
also enroll for the test
series.
TOI did quick arithmetic
to find out the size of
the coaching industry in
Kota. The average
annual fee at a coaching
centre is between Rs
50,000 and Rs 60,000.
Add another Rs 20,000-
Rs 30,000 as school
fees and an average
monthly expenditure of
Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 per
student on food and
lodging for over a lakh
students; the annual
coaching industry
'turnover' in Kota is
estimated over Rs
1,500 crore.
With coaching, other
allied sectors-schools,
real estate, transport,
catering, stationary- are
also thriving in the city.
Be it local eatery joints
or branded ones like Mc
Donald's, everyone
wants a pie of the
successful 'coaching
economy' of Kota.
Everything available in
Kota is-customized-
suiting needs of
individual students. The
latest entrant in the
booming business story
is digitization of course
content.
Nitin Vijay, director,
Motion IIT-JEE said, "We
tried to reduce the
weight of bags by
encouraging students
to use technology and
do away with paper
work."
With students coming
different parts of the
country to study in
Kota, eateries and
students' mess are
serving everything from
Punjabi to Gujarati
cuisine.
Allen Career Institute,
arguably the world
biggest coaching
institute with 45,000
students at a single
location, is expecting
over 50,000 students to
enroll this year.
"Brand Kota stands on
performance. While
8-9% of the total
aspirants appearing in
competitive exams are
from Kota, in terms of
national selections, Kota
accounts for 30% of
the total selections,"
said Govind Maheshwari,
director, Allen Career
Institute.
The growth story has a
dark side too. With
competition not getting
any easier, there has
been a rise in number of
students with stress,
anxiety attacks. A few
cases of suicides have
also been reported in
the recent past.
However, such
instances have proved
no deterrent for people
to open more institutes
in Kota. Many IIT
graduates have started
their training institutes,
marketing them with
the 'IITian' tag" to reap
maximum dividends.
Institutes like Motion
IIT-JEE and Vibrant
Academy are some
running exploiting the
'IITian tag' to the hilt.
million dollar coaching
industry in Kota
continues to thrive
despite a change in the
examination pattern.
What's more, the
decision to give 40%
weightage to Class 12
marks aiming to wipe
off the coaching
industry has instead
opened floodgates for
coaching institutes.
"The change in IIT-JEE
exam pattern has
created even most
space for us. The 40%
weightage to Class 12
marks has opened a
new stream of coaching
for CBSE exams of
Classes 11 and 12," said
Manoj Sharma, vice-
president (operations &
business development),
Resonance Eduventures
Pvt Ltd, in Kota.
As soon as the Class 12
exams get over, several
students aspiring to
make it to the IITs
make a beeline at
coaching centres in Kota
to enquire about various
courses. This year,
coaching institutes
expect the number of
such aspirants to be
over 1.30 lakh.
In 2012-13, around 1.10
lakh students came to
Kota to prepare for
competitive exams,
including IIT-JEE, AIEEE,
AIPMT, state PMTs and
various other medical
entrance examinations.
Around 75% of the
aspirants who come
here are from other
states. They enroll for
short-term or a two-
year full-time coaching
programme to prepare
for these entrance
exams. A few others
also enroll for the test
series.
TOI did quick arithmetic
to find out the size of
the coaching industry in
Kota. The average
annual fee at a coaching
centre is between Rs
50,000 and Rs 60,000.
Add another Rs 20,000-
Rs 30,000 as school
fees and an average
monthly expenditure of
Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 per
student on food and
lodging for over a lakh
students; the annual
coaching industry
'turnover' in Kota is
estimated over Rs
1,500 crore.
With coaching, other
allied sectors-schools,
real estate, transport,
catering, stationary- are
also thriving in the city.
Be it local eatery joints
or branded ones like Mc
Donald's, everyone
wants a pie of the
successful 'coaching
economy' of Kota.
Everything available in
Kota is-customized-
suiting needs of
individual students. The
latest entrant in the
booming business story
is digitization of course
content.
Nitin Vijay, director,
Motion IIT-JEE said, "We
tried to reduce the
weight of bags by
encouraging students
to use technology and
do away with paper
work."
With students coming
different parts of the
country to study in
Kota, eateries and
students' mess are
serving everything from
Punjabi to Gujarati
cuisine.
Allen Career Institute,
arguably the world
biggest coaching
institute with 45,000
students at a single
location, is expecting
over 50,000 students to
enroll this year.
"Brand Kota stands on
performance. While
8-9% of the total
aspirants appearing in
competitive exams are
from Kota, in terms of
national selections, Kota
accounts for 30% of
the total selections,"
said Govind Maheshwari,
director, Allen Career
Institute.
The growth story has a
dark side too. With
competition not getting
any easier, there has
been a rise in number of
students with stress,
anxiety attacks. A few
cases of suicides have
also been reported in
the recent past.
However, such
instances have proved
no deterrent for people
to open more institutes
in Kota. Many IIT
graduates have started
their training institutes,
marketing them with
the 'IITian' tag" to reap
maximum dividends.
Institutes like Motion
IIT-JEE and Vibrant
Academy are some
running exploiting the
'IITian tag' to the hilt.
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