Ever felt why engineering students keep
spending time and money on coaching for exams such as GATE even after going through the much rigorous courses of
engineering? There must be some good enough
reasons for a youth already in mid 20s, to go for a coaching in a city like
Delhi. To get your answer think about the long queue of underpaid Engineers and
techies in Delhi. Lately, we have become
a country where maximum students come from middle-class; parents spend lakhs on
coaching in a view that their kids
would get good jobs after completing their engineering. Such aspiration for
courses such as engineering has resulted in a mushrooming of a large number of
coaching centers, engineering colleges and hence engineering graduates. But when the students fail to get a job, or
remain underpaid they get depressed. To add to the worries of young engineering
students, NASSCOM report suggests that only 25 % engineering graduates in India
are employable. It blames poor quality of higher education system as a prime
reason for unemployment among young engineers in India. That is not all,
majority of those who are employed complain that they are underpaid.
At a time when the industry complains of an
absence of trained quality engineers, that too in big hubs like Delhi and Bengaluru, emphasis is being
made on the quality of post graduate higher education. Coaching for GATE becomes crucial as
admissions to all major Post-graduate Institutions are done through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering
(GATE). Different departments and IITs have different procedures for
admissions as some departments offer direct admissions based on the GATE score.
Others use GATE as a filter and then carry out the admissions. Even government
companies such as IOC, BARC, TIFR, BPCL, HPCL, CEERI etc. and private
technology based firms from electronics, chemical and Telecom sectors also give
preference to GATE qualified Post
graduate students for recruiting employee for technical position. GATE
qualified candidates in Engineering disciplines are also eligible for the award
of Junior Research Fellowship in CSIR Laboratories. Some Government
organizations prescribe GATE qualification as a requirement for the posts of a
Scientist and Engineer.
Despite a certain value and substance, many
students today are often impeded by a host of myths around the GATE exams because of lack of awareness
and information. According to a recent survey conducted by a coaching
institute, majority of engineering students and their parents wrongly consider
GATE as tough a test as JEE(Joint Entrance Examination). On one hand JEE sees
much larger competition and a large number of subjects, whereas GATE remains a
much narrower and specific test of skills than JEE. In JEE you need to burn a
whole lot of midnight oil to cover a large number of subjects whereas, a decent
guidance from a professional coaching in a city like Delhi is good enough to
see you through the GATE exams. To
broaden the gap, you are even allowed to use a calculator during the GATE examination.
However
it is important to choose the most fitting coaching institution for an exam
such as GATE, as many participants
can’t afford so may retries at that level. Only the one with a combination of
experienced faculty, proven track record and most handy needed to be picked.
Some GATE coaching institutes in Delhi
offer free trial classes so that students can get an idea before actually
entering into a commitment. Hence it is advised that students insist on trail
classes and an interaction with the actual faculty of the coaching institution.
This not only helps GATE aspirants
choose the best guidance but also help them select the most appropriate for
them. Not to forget, interacting with the previous students of the institution
always help. 