“No question in the entrance exam for IIT has been repeated in the last quarter century.” Sends shivers down your spine, doesn’t it?

While a soldier can never fight a war without weapons, a student cannot get into the top institutes of the country without the right training and guidance. A vague comparison but apt in today’s high level of competition and survival of the fittest mantra.

Amidst the sheer torture and hard work students have to endure in the preparatory years from, say, class IX to XII, mere parental advice or local tuition bodies hardly suffice. Enter - Brilliant Tutorials - a name no student misses and no parent ignores for long!

It began in 1970 when an ambitious father, N Thanu, an eminent political cartoonist and professor in Loyola College, Chennai, wanted his son, T Neelakanthan, to get admission into IIT.

He realised there was no agency or institution at the time that imparted guidance to bright students in order to score to their full potential and secure admission to the professional course of their choice. Thus began the saga of Brilliant Tutorials, today coaching students for 20 various exams like IIT-JEE, MBBS, IAS, GATE, GRE, TOEFL, etc, with 60,000 students enrolling every year.

A recent option offered by Brilliant is classroom coaching for students. After having started the same at Delhi in 2001, and subsequently in Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai and Salem) successfully, it was launched in Cochin and Bangalore in September this year. Brilliant’s has three centres in Bangalore, ie, in Jayanagar, Indiranagar and Malleswaram.

The classroom initiative involves structured curriculum design, course delivery by expert faculty, exhaustive study material, regular tests and feedback, and national sit-down tests (at 52 centres throughout India). Around 55 students have already enrolled in Bangalore for the same.

Different filters

Throwing light on the difficulties of the student in coping with the drastic difference between learning methodologies in the State boards and competitive exams, Mr K Ravi (General Manager, Classroom Project), Brilliant Tutorials, said,”The filter is very loose in class IX and X where qualifying performance is absolute while that of competitive exams is relative.

For example, even if a student  has scored 16/80, and the next one scores 10/80, they will be selected, for the level of difficulty is very high in relative performance wherein the filter is very tight. The same score would ensure failure in the absolute system, ie, in the school exams.”

The student is thus caught in a dilemma that is deftly taken care of by faculty at Brilliant’s, who teach the right concepts to the student, and also impart training to appear for the State board at the same time.

Herd mentality

What Mr Ravi observes is “herd mentality” of the aspirants for IIT. In fact, he says, in 2001, around 150 students from Chennai surrendered their medical seats in order to go for engineering. It is important for an individual to understand what he or she wishes to take up as a career.

Giving the classic example, he says 95% students opt for the IT route with hardly any takers for civil engineering which has tremendous scope. This has resulted in shortage of civil engineers, he rues.

Talking about the difference between the correspondence courses and classroom teaching, Ravi says, “The correspondence courses are based on the do-it-yourself model, wherein around 16 teachers travel from region to region four times a year for contact programmes with the students. The curriculum as such is lengthy and self explanatory.

While in the latter, the teacher compliments the study material and vice versa. There is heterogenous interaction in the classroom without need for too much detail.“

What Brilliant Tutorials is all about:

*Every year, around 60,000 students join various training programmes.

*Based at Chennai, faculty of 125 experienced professors and lecturers design the curriculum and compile course material based on comprehensive analysis of competitive exams over the years and latest development in all subjects.

*Contact programmes held in 15 cities and towns in the country.

*Model tests in 30 centres across the country.

Classes for the new programme for students of Class IX to XII, are conducted on weekends for around 6 hours per week after school working hours that implement a strict standardised pattern.

The courses offered in Bangalore for 2007 - 2008 are :

*AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Exam)       - 1yr programme for 12th/ II PUC students.

*AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Exam) - 2yr programme for 11th/ I PUC students.

*AIME (All India Medical Entrance) 1yr programme for 12th/II PUC.

*AIME (All India Medical Entrance) 2yr programme for 11th/Ist Puc

*TIAM (Target IIT/AIEEE/Medical) - 1yr programme for class X.

*TIAM (Target IIT/AIEEE/Medical) - 2yr programme for class IX.

The Brilliant Tutorials’ office is located at No 5, II floor, Kasthuri Apartments, 35/22, Langford Road, Bangalore - 560025. Ph: 41442127, 41442128.