St John the Baptist: A rare college that refuses to endorse coaching classes

In a time when the pressure to join coaching classes to ace competitive examinations is immense, St John has steadfastly refused to endorse these

MUMBAI: In a time when the pressure to join coaching classes to ace competitive examinations is immense, St John the Baptist High School and Junior College at Thane West has steadfastly refused to endorse these. The educational institution is helping its students crack the Class 12 and entrance tests with the simple formula of mandatory 100% attendance, rigorous study and practice tests.

Here’s a rare college that refuses to endorse coaching classes

Where many junior colleges do not insist on attendance and seek tie-ups with coaching classes instead, this college administration assures parents that there is no need to pay exorbitant fees to coaching classes—all that their child needs to do is concentrate and absorb all that’s taught in college. And despite parents knocking on the principal’s door, hoping for a concession in college timings so that their children can attend coaching classes, the management has remained firm.

The results have begun to show. Mohammed Mudassir Shaikh cleared his Class 12 with 73.67% and secured 94.24 percentile in the engineering CET without enrolling in a coaching class. Among those students who never missed a single day of college, Shaikh said, “Due to financial constraints, it was not possible for me to join coaching classes. But I believed in my college teachers. I studied for my Class 12 exams and CET in college by myself.” He added that teachers would point out important topics for CET while teaching the Class 12 curriculum.

While students rely on what’s predominantly taught in class for the state CET, which is based on the state board syllabus, some have joined classes for JEE and NEET which are based on the NCERT curriculum. Rushal Mahendar Thadigoppula, who scored 83.83% in Class 12, 86.45 percentile in JEE Mains and 93.63 percentile in the state CET, said she stuck to all the notes given by schoolteachers for her boards as well as competitive examinations. “I only took help for practice tests for JEE from a private coaching class,” she said. “My college teachers were always there to solve doubts.”

Sameer Ansari, who studied in a BMC school till Class 10, later joined the Thane college and scored 633 marks in the NEET examination to pursue medicine. “I am so glad that I got a good junior college which offers a conducive environment to study. The Class 12 state board books have more details compared to NCERT books. They helped me complete my studies in a thorough manner,” said Ansari, who also joined private coaching to get an idea about the NEET examinations.

Professor Edward Mascarenhas, vice-principal of the junior college, is one of the team members leading the ‘no coaching classes’ ideology. “We are trying to run our college as per rules and with full academic support,” he said. “With the inclusive pattern of study, students can cope with board examinations and competitive examinations. We are more focused on the basic studies that are available in the board curriculum.”

Pointing out that some parents do demand that college hours be reduced, Mascarenhas claimed they had managed to convince them how studying in college would reduce stress on students. “Apart from teaching thoroughly, we have arranged for special remedial coaching and weekly examinations for students who are weak in some lessons,” he said. “Semester exams and two prelims give students an idea of their academic performance.”

Mascarenhas acknowledged the support of managing trustee Fr Jerome Lobo, principal Fr Thomson Kinny and trust manager Deepak Dias in his work. “In the future, we plan to provide extra support for competitive examinations in junior college, which will help underprivileged students engage in stress-free study,” he added.

While acknowledging the efforts of the junior college teachers, Lalit Monteiro, a parent of a past Class 12 student, said, “The entire college team is putting efforts into academics as well as holistic development. Even as parents, when we place any suggestion before the management, it is thoroughly studied and accepted if it is worth it. The whole system of the junior college is transparent and student-centric.”