Coaching classes to offer online admission lessons

Coaching classes are looking to help students this year in the online application process to junior colleges, even though the education department has entrusted that task to schools.

Coaching classes are looking to help students this year in the online application process to junior colleges, even though the education department has entrusted that task to schools.

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This is the third year of the online admissions process, and the first that coaching classes will be pitching in.

Ideal Classes, which operates 23 branches across the city, will provide guidance to students on cut-offs, course options and career possibilities. They are in the process of training their staff to help students fill in their application forms, once admissions begin.

"Many schools do not have computers, the staff is not trained and the facilities are not good enough, so how will those students apply?" said Jagdish Walawalkar, head of Ideal. As president of the Mumbai Class Owners Association, Walawalkar will also be requesting other coaching class heads to help students at the time of junior college admissions.

The online admission will start once the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) results are announced.

Some coaching institutes have already begun their sessions. "I wasn't able to attend the training sessions at my school, but I didn't miss out because my coaching class also held a session where they explained everything," said Dristi Jain, a Class 10 student who is awaiting her SSC exam results, and who attended Mahesh Tutorials. "It's been explained pretty clearly so I'm not worried about the online process," added Jain.

In 2009, the first year that junior college admissions went online, students experienced a series of problems, including the crashing of the server and wrong college allotments.

"There's often too much chaos, and many students don't know the system. So we wanted to make sure they are equipped and well settled," said Chhaya Shastri, a member of the board of directors at Mahesh Tutorials. They have conducted 50 seminars in the past two weeks for students.

Last year the online process went off relatively smoothly and the department hopes that with the series of training sessions for students and teachers the process will be glitch-free this year. The department will release the admissions schedule as soon as the SSC results are announced.

The first merit list (for the vocational streams) will be out around 15 days after the SSC results are declared.