IIT coaching on cell phones

New Delhi: A new fangled concept may make parents a bit more relaxed about letting their children use mobile phones.

Mobile phones can be used to talk, message, take photographs and even pay bills but now coaching centres are using them to prepare students for entrance exams.

Leading institutes in Delhi have developed a programme called the V SAT that can be downloaded on a GPRS enabled phone on which students can practice math and vocabulary.

The coaching industry, with an annual estimate of around Rs 20,000 crore, feels that the next phase of growth will be largely tech enabled.

CAT and IIM aspirants who are using this new technology say that their scores have improved drastically.

And it's not just mobiles. Institutes like Career Launchers are using V SAT to create a live class room, which includes students in 60 cities linked together by a satellite.

The setting is almost like a traditional class, with the instructor in a studio even pausing to answer questions and reprimand students for not paying enough attention.

However traditional educationists sound a note of caution.

Professor, Department of Education, Delhi University, Anita Rampal says, "Education is a transaction not a transmission. The V SAT defies the entire logic of schools and classrooms."

Coaching institutes however disagree.

Chief Technology Developer at Career Launcher, Samit Bhattacharya says, "It's not possible for us to get quality teachers to places like Guwahati or Karba, so it makes sense."