Secunderabad: Students struggle with coaching centre crunch

SECUNDERABAD: The daily grind of preparing for big-ticket entrance exams — medicine, engineering and law — is not new to students of Secunderabad. But only 40% residents feel that coaching centres in the city are empowering them in their academic journey, revealed a survey conducted by TOI in association with Varenia CIMS.
The rest are, however, not satisfied with the number of available options.While Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally and Madhapur have around 100 coaching centres for class 12 students, areas such as ECIL and Tarnaka only have one-fourth the number.
The contrast in numbers is largely due to the location of Secunderabad, which is enveloped by the army cantonment, say experts. "There are several restrictions and detailed processes that you must go through if you want to start a business or construct a building here due to the presence of the cantonment," said Raja Shivanand Tangirala, academic director, Shivanand’s Institute for Excellence.
The presence of coaching centres is also intrinsically linked to the number of colleges in the area. "Several corporate colleges are in Hyderabad. In terms of distance, traffic and time, it makes sense for students and teachers to establish base in that part of town," he added.
Students looking to crack specific exams said that Secunderabad did not have enough centres. "I have relatives in Defence Colony and Shamirpet but the course I was looking for was only available in Abids, Kukatpally and Dilsukhnagar. The time taken to commute was a problem, so I had to opt for a hostel," says Harikrishnan H, who has come to Hyderabad from Kerala for MTech coaching.
DVL Vidya, senior legal associate, OYO, said that not much has changed in the past few years. "When I was pursuing CLAT coaching in 2012, the only good institute was in Paradise and I lived in Saket. To get home after coaching was a hassle," she said. Coaching centres for law are still scarce after seven years.
However, there has been growth in numbers, albeit slowly. "In 2005, my institute was the only one in Sainikpuri. Now, there number has increasd to over 20," Shivanand said.