Students should study regularly and rigorously to be able to crack competitive entrance tests to premier tech hubs, said experts at a seminar on Monday.

Organised by Bihar Public Schools and Children Welfare Association at SK Memorial Hall, the subject of the seminar was “How to crack entrance exams”.

R.K. Choudhary, chairman, KVN Classes said: “The population of Bihar and Jharkhand taken together is greater than that of Andhra Pradesh. But only 500 students from these two states crack the entrance to IITs, while around 3,500 from the southern state do so every year. A systematic strategy needs to be adopted to improve their performance.”

He added that students should focus on NCERT books and solve all kinds of problems before attempting questions for JEE (Mains) or JEE Advanced).

“For cracking entrance tests, one should undergo regular and rigorous practice, which in turn would improve the intelligent quotient-level, problem-solving and analytical skills,” said Choudhary.

Ajit Singh, motivator from Bihar Sharif said: “Hard work and discipline has no substitute.”

Discipline in schools, however, is on the decline thanks to the ban on corporal punishment, said National Independent Schools’ Alliance president R.C. Jain. “Under the Right to Education Act, corporal punishment has been banned. This has tied the hands of teachers. Children have the freedom to do whatever they want. The act also gives students the right to be promoted in every class (up to Class VIII. If they are not scared of failing, will the students study at all?” he said.