Government To Provide Free JEE Coaching, Is CAT Next On The Cards?

As per recent media reports, JEE and NEET aspirants will soon be provided with free entrance exam coaching by the government’s National Testing Agency (NTA).

The agency, which was set up to replace the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as the main body for conducting national level examinations such as JEE Main (Joint Entrance Examination – Main), NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), and UGC NET (University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test) from the next academic year, has proposed that it will help aspirants through the nearly 2,700 coaching centres it had announced to set up earlier this year. According to an official from the HRD ministry, these centres will first allow students to appear for a mock test before the exam and help them analyse the results by appointing NTA mentors. The aspirants will then be provided with free coaching to improve on their weak areas.

Following this proposal, one can’t help but wonder if something similar should be implemented for CAT aspirants as well. Should college graduates and young professionals vying for a formal education in management be provided with free coaching by the government?

Looking at the stats, 11.5 lakh engineering aspirants registered for JEE Main in 2018 and over 13 lakh candidates appeared for the medical entrance NEET. On the other hand, CAT was given by only about 2 lakh candidates last year. Some might argue that the direct impact of such a move will be on the numerous private coaching centres that have rapidly grown in number over the past few years, both online and offline. While the government has reportedly claimed the move is aimed towards aspirants with limited financial means, what remains uncertain is whether the coaching provided by the NTA will be enough to bring them at par with private centres. “It's a good move by the government, but in order to prepare students for a competitive exam like CAT, the implementation of the programme is important. I feel that the people who can pay private centres will ultimately still get the edge,” said a final year MBA student.

The Common Admissions Test requires speed and precision, apart from knowledge of concepts which a college graduate is already expected to know. While free mocks can to some extent help a candidate practice and score well in the exam, what sets the entrance procedure for a post-graduation programme like CAT apart from exams like JEE and NEET is the intense rigour required to get into a good college despite being a 99 percentiler. Therefore, the need of the hour as far as CAT goes, perhaps, is not just free coaching but also training to help candidates prepare for the interviews and develop a well-rounded personality.