Recent trend in Board examinations in Tamil Nadu has been better performances by schools from the southern districts. Students of Chennai, it had been long felt, were the creamy layer having as they did greater access to better coaching, something their counterparts in rural towns lacked. But surprisingly a new trend has evolved in the southern districts. In particular it is so in Namakkal, where students are put under rigorous training for two years.

It was after Mala scoring 90 per cent in Class X that her parents dreamt of her getting a medical college seat or an engineering seat in a top government college. Mala was enrolled in one of the most sought-after schools in the Namakkal District. Famous for broiler chickens, Namakkal District has today carved itself an identity as a producer of a fine breed of students. These schools assure State rank for children, if not admission in medical or engineering colleges.

All these schools have been established by retired school teachers. They charge about Rs. 1 lakh compared to the government-stipulated fee of Rs. 10,000 a year and parents are ready to set apart the sum to reap future benefits.

After studying in a tension-free, serene atmosphere in Chennai, Mala found it difficult to adapt to the rigours of Namakkal. All students in a school, even if residents of the town, have to stay in its hostel. Even the teachers are provided accommodation within the campus for uninterrupted coaching. With restrained access to family and the outside world, every student is closely monitored for his or her performance.

The coaching for 12th grade starts from the middle of the 11th grade (October). By then, all 11th grade portions have ended or are abandoned half way. So, one and a half years before the common 12th grade exam, the coaching begins in these schools and goes on uninterrupted without holidays.

The school employs three categories of teachers. Subject paper teachers are paid Rs. 20,000 per month. Test paper correction teachers are paid Rs.8000 per month. They don't handle classes but only correct the students' answer sheets and comment on their performance line by line. Hostel study supervision teachers are paid Rs.6000 per month and they monitor the students throughout their stay in hostel.

Through these two years, the students are cut off from access to the outside world. Many do fairly well in exams and enter some prestigious institutions, but half of them leave half way, unable to cope with the shock of low marks in examinations. A few even end their lives, unable to withstand the shock of poor marks in examinations. A disturbing trend is the spread of a similar culture in colleges. These institutions have succumbed to parental and societal pressures and have made students rather similar to the broiler chicken of the area.

Defenders of the system point to the end justifying the means. They cite the success of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in winning large shares of seats in the IIT-JEE and civil services examinations. Chandrababu Naidu as Chief Minister encouraged such coaching. It is common to find long stretches in Hyderabad with numerous coaching institutions. In quick time, these became famous for the success rate of their students in the entrance examination of IIT. At IIT-M, the lingua franca has changed to Telugu. Likewise, Patna has witnessed such coaching centres that prepare students for the civil service exam. They succeeded in taking Bihar to the top in exams, even as the State during the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi performed poorly in development. The pass-outs from these institutions work in Delhi and other States as administrators.

As Jerome K. Jerome put it: The methods may be crude, but they are effective. – (Courtesy: Industrial Economist.)