Every year, 900,000 students looking to crack the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and other top engineering exams, make a beeline for the top coaching institutes in the country. But the competition to get into them is just as much a rat race.

Institutes like Aakash, FIITJEE, Allen, or the numerous coaching factories clustered in the college town of Kota, Rajasthan, charge anywhere between Rs 1-4 lakh ($1,400-5,600) for their services annually.

AUTHOR

Olina Banerji

Based in Delhi, Olina writes about mega-trends in urban mobility, education, skilling and the environment, with a focus on how institutions and innovations can help cities grow sustainably. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics, and has worked previously with India Today and global non-profit Ashoka.

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