Prof. Durgesh Mangeshkar

  KOTA SUICIDES : ANY SOLUTIONS ? For the past many years, JEE coaching hubs especially Kota & Hyderabad have recorded student suicides every year of which many were unreported besides thousands of (unreported) cases of mental depression, hyper-anxiety and mental trauma every year. In 2023 alone so far, there have been 26 reported suicides of students in Kota which has gained national media attention and has prompted the Rajasthan Govt to ban all internal exams of coaching institutes for 2 months. There may be multiple reasons (illness, break-ups, academic failure, pressure from parents, unpaid loans etc) for this phenomenon (accurate info on causes of suicide is difficult to find) and this article attempts to identify the non-behavioural external probable causes behind these suicides and suggests measures from all stake-holders (Govt, coaching classes, schools, parents, students, society and media too!) to significantly resolve this burning issue. Let us first accept one bas...

The pandemic triggered a shift from offline in-person education to online education across the world since March 2020. Now that, almost 20 months have transpired, it is worth analysing the impact of online education on the students community. After collating data from various stakeholders like teachers, students, parents, academic staff etc working across the cross-sections of the education industry, the following key observations have been crystallised : There is near unanimity on the view that Teaching is more effective in offline mode as compared to online mode. Though live interactive online lectures plus recordings offsets to a large extent the relative advantage of offline lectures over online lectures, the online teaching has proved quite ineffective for students who lack sincerity. The eye-to-eye interaction between the teacher and student in offline in-person mode ensures that all students (sincere and insincere) are in the loop which often does not happen in online mode where...

          IMPACT of ENTRANCE EXAMS REGIME since 2005   In t he 21 st century, the importance of competitive exams has increased tremendously relative to school and college exams. This is due to several Government resolutions and Supreme Court judgements. However, this crucial change in the rules of the game has been registered by only a fraction of the students and parent community. The rest do not seem to be aware of the changes yet. We can broadly categorise competitive exams into 2 types:       Career-oriented Competitive exams called as Entrance exams after Std.12 for admission to UG professional courses. Also, there are Entrance exams after graduation for admission to PG professional courses too.          Academically-oriented Competitive exams mostly from Std.4 to 12 like KVPY, Olympiads, NTSE, Scholarship exams, NSTSE, NSO etc.   NB:   The key difference is that Entrance exams succes...

 

 

 

 

The National Sample Survey Office, in its 2015 report, revealed that at least 25% of school and college students in India were attending coaching classes. In several states, the figure was at 75% — the actual numbers today may be higher.   Coaching classes are a parallel universe in the education space in almost all developing nations, including India. It is, therefore, worth examining — for parents, students and those involved in higher academics — the causes for the rise in demand for coaching classes.   The main reason for lakhs of students joining coaching classes is the inadequate quantity and quality of academic inputs offered in formal educational institutions such as schools and colleges. Moreover, parents today — due to increasing pressure at workplaces — are often not able to find sufficient time to hand-hold their children in matters concerning higher academics. So, many children end up needing attention from proven specialists. At the same time, the coach...

Times of India Pune dated 13 June 2017. Expert Speak- Prof. Durgesh C Mangeshkar, Director, IITians Prashikshan Kendra “June and July are a nail-biting phase for aspirants trying to select the best engineering college or branch. A wide range of options can confuse students and parents alike. Professional advice, counseling and tips can help. Students must refer to the official websites of the entrance exams and corresponding centralized admission procedure (CAP). They should read the brochures carefully to understand the rules and nuances of admission, to avoid mistakes and confusion while filling forms. Documents like domicile certificate, proof of nationality, caste certificate, income documents of parents in case of OBC-NCL & EBC categories, std XII and entrance exams mark sheets should be kept ready as they need to be submitted during the counseling rounds. How to prioritize an engineering college or a certain branch is a common confusion among aspira...

Background India is a diverse society having a broad spectrum of formal learners (students) in terms of academic, cultural, economic, ideological and social parameters. It is estimated that 65% of the Indian population is below the age of 35 and 54% of the population is below the age of 25. These statistics are often cited by experts as evidence of the ample demographic dividend that India as a nation has. This demographic dividend if encashed by India can catapult her to become a Superpower within two decades or less.  On the other hand, if India does not educate her youth well and does not equip them with employable skills, a demographic disaster is just around the corner as over 2 million youth are entering the job market every month in India ! The Education policies pursued by successive Indian Governments in the past 70 years have placed India in an unenviable position to lose this historic opportunity and precipitate a demographic disaster by 2020. The unprecedented...