Lost in Transition: Navigating the Costly Maze of Education

The story of Nirmala, a bright student from a small village in Rajasthan, highlights the challenges faced by students aiming for competitive exams in India.

This is the story of Nirmala, a student who consistently topped her class in Rampur, a small village in the Bansur district of Rajasthan. Her dream was to become an engineer. Influenced by aggressive marketing and recommendations from neighbors, Nirmala's mother made the difficult decision to move to Jaipur for her daughter's IIT JEE coaching in classes XI and XII. This meant enrolling Nirmala in a coaching institute with a fee of approximately 1.5 lakhs per year, on top of the 30-35 thousand rupees annual school fee.

Suddenly exposed to a highly competitive environment far different from her village school, Nirmala's initial enthusiasm waned as she struggled to keep pace. Burdened by the knowledge that her parents had sacrificed their savings for this opportunity, she began to lose confidence. The vast difference in class size compared to Rampur made it difficult for Nirmala to seek support from the coaching faculty.

Further complicating the situation, Nirmala's school was a "dummy school" ? a prevalent system where students attend only for exams. This lack of regular schooling hampered her preparation for the CBSE board exams, which emphasize long-answer questions unlike the objective format of competitive exams. The focus on coaching left Nirmala unprepared for the board format, leading to devastating pre-board results where she failed all three main subjects and barely passed the others.

Recognizing the situation's gravity, Nirmala's mother promptly discontinued coaching and arranged for one-on-one tutoring with a familiar teacher from their village to cover the board syllabus. Nirmala's inherent brilliance shone through, and she managed to secure good marks in her board exams. However, she was unable to crack the competitive entrance exam. The entire endeavor cost her parents over 4 lakhs.

In this scenario, neither Nirmala nor her parents were at fault. The story could have been different if Nirmala's school in Rampur had offered improved education standards comparable to other parts of the country. This improvement is achievable if schools themselves take the initiative. The Academics, Flow and Performance Monitoring System (AFPMS) is committed to supporting and facilitating such positive changes in the educational landscape.