The children say they are on the lookout for `individual attention'. ``I checked out at least three tutors and coaching centres before I settled for where I am enrolled at present. And I am very happy here as this centre does not have a clutter of students and you get the teacher's attention as well,'' says Amit from Manav Sthali School. He adds that his coaching centre is `student-friendly'. The coaching centres he went to earlier in East Patel Nagar and Rajinder Nagar had 25 to 30 students in each group and they charged Rs 400 to Rs 500 per month.

Parents say coaching classes are a necessity, which give their children the confidence to face exams. ``Actually the extra money that we put in does not pinch, if the child gets the attention he needs and the study circle is able to prepare the child with sure-shot questions,'' says S.N. Gupta, a parent waiting outside a coaching centre in East Patel Nagar to pick his child up and take him for another class. ``My child goes to two centres for specialised coaching in different subjects,'' he adds. Says Goel: ``In most centres, such as Sachdeva PT College, each group has somewhere around 30 students, and they are charged an amount of around Rs 15,000 for the whole year for subjects like maths and science. They conduct their classes just like in schools with 40-45 minute periods''.

Some other institutes like the Delhi Public Coaching Centre (K.L. Manchanda) have classes all year round at a cost of Rs 18,800. But lessons are taken only on the weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, for a stretch of four hours and three days a week during vacations. They also hold special camp classes for 50 days which cost Rs 5,000. Vidya Mandir is another institution run along the same lines, and it also has a special cell for correspondence coaching.

Says Otendro Nath Burman, a Delhi Public School student, who enrolled in a correspondence coaching course for class XI at Vidya Mandir: ``I am preparing for IIT exams. For me this course is more for confidence-building than any kind of preparation for class XII board exams''.

According to him, around 70 to 80 per cent of students in his class go for coaching classes. Up to class X, students opt for a neighbourhood tutor, as board exams set in they start going to well-known coaching centres. Maths teacher Goel finds flaws in correspondence coaching. He says: ``Centres offer special correspondence courses to sometimes 2,000 students for Rs 5,000. But what is so special about these courses when all the institute does is supply the course material to the students?''

Burman's mother agrees. The child builds up his confidence by writing mock tests which the institute regularly holds for students. And when the coaching season comes to an end, the race is on to acquire sample exam papers and to attend last minute crash classes. Says Goel: ``The coach has accumulated all sorts of question-papers so the child does not miss anything. Here too the emphasis is not on understanding and learning but on shortcuts to success.'' According to him, if a child pays more attention to his course material and thoroughly reads the entire NCERT syllabus, he will surely clear his exams with nothing less than 80 per cent marks.