Free JEE, NEET coaching for Plus II students in Odisha govt schools soon

If everything goes as planned, the poor and meritorious students in government schools across Odisha will get free coaching to prepare for the national level examinations/tests like Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). 

The government is mulling replicating the Odisha Adarsh Vidyalaya format in government schools and introducing JEE and NEET coaching for meritorious students. 

In fact, the government has prepared a master plan to recreate the success of Odisha Adarsh Vidyalaya by introducing its format in government schools. 

All things being equal, the financial problem would no longer be a stumbling block for poor and meritorious students in fulfilling their dreams. 

As per the plan, the meritorious students of Class XI and XII will get free coaching. To be eligible to get this coaching, a student must have over 90 per cent marks in the Matric examination.  

The School and Mass Education department has chalked out that the facility will be made available at 101 upgraded schools. 

In remote areas, it had been a common trend that students would leave their studies after Matric for the simple reason that they don’t have Plus II colleges nearby. To do away with this problem, the government has identified some schools and upgraded them to Plus II. 

“In Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya, free coaching is being provided to those students who have secured above 90 per cent marks. Similarly, students passing out HSC with good marks will also be given free coaching,” informed School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash. 

According to the educationists, the school upgrading and coaching facility are to attract those hundreds of students who stop their studies after the Class X examination. They are sanguine about the success of the plan. 

“The government should take early steps to recruit teachers at the upgraded schools to impart coaching to the students failing which the plan would remain to be a pie in the sky,” observed Dr Abhay Kumar Panda, an educationist. 

“It is a good decision. But all should get the benefit of this facility,” maintained Smruti Suman Sahu, a student. 

Echoing the same view, another student, Sasmita Baral said, “We welcome the step because students can continue their education in their old schools and their financial problem wouldn’t be a barrier to achieving goals.”

The School and Mass Education department has been taking several steps to reduce the dropout rate. It is to be seen if this measure is going to be effective.

(Reported by Rajashree Satapathy from Dhenkanal and Jagadish Das from Bhubaneswar, OTV)