There is no way a student can prepare for them on his own. However, the fact remains that their image remains that of a teaching shop. Most of them complain of bad publicity they get and unfair treatment meted out to them by the government and its agencies. As a matter of fact, when this correspondent tried to contact them for a lowdown on the coaching centres in the city, most of them shied away. At the coaching centres, there is little pretence of a great learning institute one may find at some of the leading educational institutions in the city.
Money is demanded and paid before the student is admitted.
And as one keen observer of the scene put it wryly, this is the only business which has remained immune to the general slowdown in the country s economy . Besides the hiring of the PR firms to ensure a positive publicity in the media, the coaching centres have launched a number of schemes to lure students. There is a string of advertisements in newspapers offering short, capsule and crash courses, as well as independent modules offering 100 per cent success. A new trend is to organise shows in schools and colleges from where students are recruited to these coaching centres. Quiz programmes are organised where winners are offered attractive prizes.