|
![]() | Help |
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Get Ahead » Careers » Columns » Rashmi Bansal |
|
In the first category lie those who slogged for months, mastering Vedic Mathematics shortcuts and agonising over their performance in SIM CATs. They prepared all they could. And then some more. Only to find the rules of the game cruelly altered.
Hence the relief of the second camp, writ large on the faces of students who knew they hadn't 'practised enough'. Yes, they had solved mock papers, but given the pressures of work -- and play -- still had a mountain of coaching class material lying untouched. They had arrived at the exam hall unsure if they would 'peak' or squeak past the competition. The CAT mystique In its altered format, CAT 2004 offered a level playing field. Presence of mind scored over familiarity with pattern. Dealing with uncertainty took the 'well prepared' well outside the comfort zone. Only, it gets harder and harder for the creators of the test to keep this 'mystique'. Year after year, coaching classes scrutinise the question paper in minute detail and extrapolate it into hundreds of mock CATs. To stay a step or two ahead of this 'practice makes perfect' premise is the challenge the CAT question setters have finally responded to. Those who answer the tougher questions score higher overall, naturally. And that's absolutely fine. What was broken has been fixed, what isn't need not be tampered with. A record 1,50,000 students appeared for CAT 2004. That's a little more than last year -- and a huge increase over the numbers just five years before that. In 1998, a mere 87,000 students attempted to bell the billi. India's population is growing, but surely not at such an alarming rate! Besides, over 50 other institutes now take in students based on CAT scores, so even a moderate score might get one into a decent non-IIM MBA programme. God helps those who help themselves I have nothing against coaching (yes, I did take up a correspondence course and gleefuly passed on the material to two siblings who also cleared CAT :)) But the point is, God helps only those who help themselves. And so it is with coaching. Qualities which, frankly, are lacking in a large number of CAT aspirants. Perhaps they will make it to a C-grade MBA school somewhere. But then, lack of communication skills would hamper them wherever they go in life. I don't doubt these individuals have some unique passion or potential. But clearing the CAT exam is clearly not one of them. The thing is, 90 percent of the folks who clear CAT would have done so with or without coaching. Because they possess the kind of IQ CAT tests. They may be deficient in other kinds of intelligence (my spatial ability, manual dexterity, sense of direction, ability to remember faces, emotional intelligence all suck). But, apparently, all that doesn't count for much if you are an aspiring manager. Take the Class X examinations. When I gave mine in the mid-1980s, coaching was unheard of. Now, NOT taking coaching is unheard of. Grooming cats into supercats Take the phenomenal success of the Kota-based Bansal Classes (in case you're wondering, we are not related :)) Last year, 827 (!) students of Bansal Classes cleared JEE (that is almost 25 percent of IIT's intake!). No doubt Bansal adds value to its students' preparation. But, over the years, it becomes a virtuous cycle in operation. Founder V K Bansal -- a mechanical engineer from Benaras University -- started giving private tuitions when health problems forced him to give up his regular job. The first few years resulted in modest success. Four students made it to IIT in 1988, a figure that went up to 22 in 1994. But thereafter, it has been a phenomenal result indeed. In 1999, 209 Bansal students cracked JEE: a figure that has quadrupled in just five years to 800+. Based on its early success, and purely through word of mouth, Bansal began attracting hundreds of students. Now here lies the genius of the operation: By screening wannabes through its own rigorous entrance test, Bansal ensures it gets only the creme de la creme of Class X passouts. Small wonder then that Bansal boasts of a 50 percent success rate. It is the old cats and dogs theory in operation again. Take in the cats, and groom them to be supercats. Further, those who top the Bansal entrance exam are given more intensive coaching and taught by the best professors. Those in less favoured batches can, however, work their way into the 'A' team by their performance in the omnipresent weekly tests. But the real clincher for many young aspirants is the fact that, in Kota, you can spend all your time and energy preparing for JEE. The classes have a 'setting' with the local schools ensuring you stay enrolled without the jhanjhat of attendance, classwork, etc. That is why is my cousin, a topper at the Class X CBSE examination, has chosen to go the Bansal way. Perhaps he would have made it anyway. But the stakes are so high, no one wants to take chances. To cater to these 'rejects', a whole host of other classes have sprung up all over Kota. Who knows, perhaps the very fact that they didn't make it to Bansal propels some of the wannabes to struggle harder and prove themselves at JEE! And it is easier to say, 'Look, I tried,' than outright reject your parents' long cherished dreams. Coaching is pretty much the same thing, except in an overcrowded little classroom. Read Rashmi's other columns Is the 'IIM' brand invincible? The truth about MBA Cats & Dogs The truth about IT Cats & Dogs If you ain't a cat, don't worry! Kya aap copywriter ban na chahte hain? Image: Rajesh Karkera Rashmi Bansal is a graduate of IIM Ahmedabad and founder-editor of the popular youth magazine JAM (www.jammag.com). She can be reached at rashmi@jammag.com |
![]() ![]() |
|
|
© 2007 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback |