Pune: As competition for first-year admissions to engineering, medical, and professional commerce courses intensifies, students are starting their preparations as early as the eleventh grade. This trend has led to a significant shift, with many students opting for junior colleges affiliated with private coaching classes rather than standalone junior colleges.
Students aiming for competitive exams like engineering, medical, and chartered accountancy courses start their preparation from the eleventh grade by enrolling in private coaching classes.
During the centralized admission process, students select junior colleges recommended by these coaching classes, leading to a trend where many colleges and coaching centers have established "integrated coaching" agreements.
This arrangement allows students to attend private coaching classes while being officially enrolled in junior colleges, often bypassing the required 75 per cent attendance mandated by the education department, as attendance is managed through these agreements.
This shift has resulted in a growing demand for admissions in lesser-known junior colleges associated with coaching classes, as much as for the prestigious ones. This trend is visible in many colleges in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Integrated coaching puts immense mental pressure on students, leading to adverse effects. Parents and students have a misconception that coaching for JEE also prepares them for CET, leading to substantial financial expenditure.
The eleventh and twelfth-grade syllabus is completed in one year, with the rest of the year dedicated to advanced courses. For example, JEE Advanced has 120 lessons, while CET and the twelfth grade have 89 lessons.
Students often realize they can't cope by the middle of the eleventh grade, but they succumb to the reputation of JEE coaching, affecting their grades and increasing mental stress.
The importance of the eleventh grade has diminished, with integrated coaching now extending beyond JEE to NEET and some commerce courses.
The traditional college experience post-tenth grade has largely disappeared, impacting students' emotional and social development during the eleventh and twelfth grades.
Coaching classes focus on objective multiple-choice methods, unlike the comprehensive education required in engineering and medical courses, leading to educational setbacks.
