IIT-JEE students come out of a coaching institute on BM Das Road in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, April 5: IIT-JEE examination, the toughest test for engineering aspirants in the country, is days away.

Most coaching institutes are crowded with students, vying to get last-minute suggestions that would give them an edge.

Past records show that about 100 students on an average clear the examination every year. Interestingly, the number of coaching institutes assisting in the preparations for the examination is more than 500 in the Patna alone.

Coaching institutes for IIT-JEE can be found at almost every street corner in the state capital. Between Ashok Rajpath and Boring Road and from Boring Canal Road to Rajendra Nagar, there are around 250 coaching institutes.

Strength of students varies at these institutes, but they serve the same purpose — to guide students and help them clear the IIT-JEE.

Many of these institutes fail to send even a single student to the IITs.

Anand Kumar, founder of Super30, said: “A number of coaching institutes teach without a proper procedure. There are very kinds of institutes in Patna alone. Some of them are operating with one teacher and one classroom and there are others which have several branches in the country.”

The last time somebody from Patna topped the examination was in 2008. Shitikant, a Patna student was all-India topper and he had taken classes at Bansal coaching in Kota.

In 2010, Sachin Agarwal stood 23rd and even he had had to attend coaching classes for two years.

Around 25,000 to 30,000 students from the capital appear for the examination every year, but hardly 120 to 130 students clear them. These figures assume more importance when there is no dearth of coaching institutes in Patna with many national-level coaching institutes having their branches in Patna, including IIT-JEE Brilliant Tutorials, Pie Classes, Akash Institute and others. Besides, there are several regional institutes as well.

Apart from coaching institutes, there are also teachers who take special IIT classes.

The fees of these institutes also vary. While the national-level institutes charge between Rs 1.2 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh for two-year courses, the regional institutes charge between Rs 10,000 and Rs 80,000, depending upon the infrastructure of the institutes.

Teachers and former IIT toppers said students should first try and complete the syllabus of classes XI and XII. Jitendra Reddy, former IIT-JEE topper, who was in Patna recently, said: “Students appearing for the examination should first complete the Class XI and XII and syllabus. Then, special emphasis should be given on conceptual learning.”