Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is a two-stage competitive test for admission into top IITs(Indian Institute of Technology). It comprises JEE mains and JEE advanced exams. IIT JEE is considered one of the prestigious and toughest examinations in India. Class 12 pursuing and dropout students can appear for this exam.
How early should you start preparing your child for the IIT JEE exam?
Usually, parents start motivating their children from class 8 or 9. But this is not a standard criterion. It depends on your child’s capability, knowledge, interest and grasping power. Experts advise that you can start guiding your children from class 11 as the IIT JEE exam covers the syllabus of both classes 11 and 12.
According to a parent of a 9th class student in Bangalore,” The online IIT JEE program does not focus on IIT JEE initially. Tutors prepare them for NTSE, different talent-based exams, olympiads etc. It is like preparing a foundation to face competitive exams, which is a good thing.”
Why do you want your child to crack IIT JEE?
Well, keeping this question aside from social norms, we will explain this with two examples, both successful stories with different choices.
Naveen Kumar, alumni of IIT Roorkee, says, “My parents guided me to choose IIT JEE, and I moved in that direction. I am happy today that I chose what my parents suggested to me. I never regret that decision.” Today he is dedicated to working as an IES Officer.
While Parul, a PhD scholar in IISc Bangalore, says, “It was not like I did not appear for IIT JEE, I did give the exam, and I took one attempt. I could not clear it. I realised that cracking this exam would take a lot more effort, and I did not want to invest another year of my life. And I always knew that I never wanted to work in core branches like computer science, electrical, and mechanical. I wanted to do something which combines both biology and engineering. The job was not my priority; I wanted to do higher studies. I did my MTech in biomedical engineering. Even I am doing PhD in bioengineering. My parents asked me if I wanted to take another attempt or not or do I need coaching. And that age is a very sensitive time of anyone’s life, so I decided to go with the opportunity I had at that time. My parents always encouraged me in whatever I wanted to do.”
Coaching or Self-Study, Online or Offline?
Always ask your children because eventually, they have to prepare. They better know which teaching method suits them. If your child is opting for self-study, then it is good. And if they want to join coaching, help them in shortlisting institutes and financing them.
Now the main struggle comes in choosing between online and offline study. Decide by thinking about these criteria-
1. Accessibility
2. Fee Structure
3. Mentoring
4. Health (Covid-19 & monkeypox)
5. Educators
6. Quality of study material and test series
How much will IIT JEE coaching cost to your pocket?
“How much” is a big question for all middle-class families. Most of the coaching institutes initiate programmes from class 8.
Online coaching expenses vary from Rs 80,000 to 1.8lac, depending on your chosen course and class.
However, in offline coaching, these expenses can be divided into three categories-
1. Coaching Fee- Varies from 1.3lac to 2.2lakh depending on the course, duration and class you choose.
2. Stay & Food- It varies from city to city. (on average, Rs 12,000 per month, which is 1.4lakh annually)
3. Other expenses- It also varies from student to student and their parents. (on average, it is Rs 8000 per month, which is 96,000 annually)
To conclude expenses, online classes can cost you up to 2lakh, while offline classes can cost you up to 4.5lakh.
Tips For Parents:
Dear Parents, are you planning to send your child for Coaching for the IIT JEE exam? We suggest you keep track of these things-
1. Keep your child’s interest in mind. Many parents ignore their child’s choices. Let them decide and be their support system. It will make your child responsible.
2. Make them understand the value of the next few months because the city, the surrounding, the study culture, friend circle and many other things will be new to them.
3. Do not compare their performance/rank with other students. Instead, inspire them by positively telling stories of successful people.
4. If your child is appearing in this exam along with class 12, they are going through double pressure. One is a board exam, and another is a competitive exam. They expect support from you.
4. Educate them about mental health as competitive exams bring a lot of stressful moments.
“Let them learn at school whatever they learn to pass the examinations, but at home, let the education that you provide be the kind that widens their perceptions and takes away the germs of prejudices that infect them while they are out in the world.”
– Abhijit Naskar, Human Making is Our Mission: A Treatise on Parenting
