Coaching Over Classrooms - Let's unpack India's real education engine
Mayank Singhal
1/8
🔥 Indian schools give you marks.
Coaching centers? They give you a chance.
This is why India's parallel education economy - led by Kota & coaching - is bigger than school itself.
2/8
India has 1.5 million+ coaching centers.
From IIT to NEET to UPSC to SSC to spoken English.
This isn't "extra help."
This is the main syllabus.
School = attendance.
Coaching = survival.
3/8
Each year, over 2.5 lakh students move to Kota, Rajasthan.
They stay in PGs, eat dabbas, and chase AIR ranks.
Study 14 hours a day.
One dream: Crack JEE or NEET.
But also?
Anxiety. Isolation. Even suicides.
4/8
Families spend ₹1–4 lakh/year just on coaching.
Some mortgage land, sell gold, or borrow from relatives.
All for one shot at an "entry ticket" - IIT, AIIMS, a future.
This isn't fees.
It's faith.
5/8
Ask a Class 11 student:
"Will your school help you crack NEET?"
They'll laugh.
Because even schoolteachers moonlight at coaching classes.
Schools give marks.
Coaching gives results.
6/8
In India, clearing JEE or NEET = Status + Security + Escape.
It's not just an exam.
It's an entire family's social elevator.
A 17-year-old carries that weight.
That's why it's not a test.
It's a life gamble.
7/8
This isn't a coaching problem.
It's a system problem.
We normalized:
🎯 Rank over knowledge
💯 Tests over curiosity
📈 Fear over growth
The machine works - but for what?
8/8
The question isn't "Can kids do it?"
It's:
Why does a ₹6 trillion coaching economy exist on top of schools?
And what does that say about the real education system?