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Coaching schools Click On Online Common Addmission Test (CAT) Module

The country's estimated Rs 450-500 crore MBA coaching business is all set to witness a fresh spate of action. With the IIMs aiming to take the CAT online by 2009, coaching biggies like TIME, Career Launcher and IMS are all chalking out plans to adapt to the new development.

According to industry insiders, this is also likely to mean that MBA aspirants now have to fork out more for their coaching as well. That's because the coaching centres have to incur a significant investment towards infrastructure , HR and intellectual bandwidth to adapt to the changing trend. And the costs involved in the exercise are likely to be passed on to students.

And there are plenty of them! For the number of CAT students has been growing steadily. In 2006, it was 1.8 lakh-plus and for CAT 2007, it crossed the 2.3 lakh mark. In 2008, the figure may cross 3 lakh. And it's estimated about 50% of them take coaching at various institutes. All the more reason, why coaching institutes need to step up to the challenge. However, the lack of clarity on the modalities of the online exam is proving to be an impediment.

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"Right now, we're working on digitising content. We are creating CD-based papers through two delivery systems : CDs for home practice and online," said TIME Kolkata director Rahul Reddy. He added that while the model to be adopted for the online CAT was still unknown, the implementation would necessitate tie-ups with service providers in the online business.

"The entire process is likely to require an investment of around Rs 5-6 crore on our part, which may lead to an increase of 10-15 % in the fees," said Mr Reddy. Right now, TIME charges between Rs 15,000-20 ,000 per student, depending on the location, and has over 30,000 students.

By siddharth22, Section Educations In Bihar
Posted on Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 12:13:33 AM EST

IMS COO Sanjay Choudhary said the institute had an advantage in that it already has the online expertise, courtesy its being a market leader in GMAT. Nonetheless, he estimates that an investment in test management systems coupled with computer labs in each centre could cost anywhere between Rs 5-6 crore. "Though there are several solutions, we are taking our time before implementing any decisions. The costs go up nearly five-fold in the online format , and our understanding is that the CAT authorities are still in wait-and-watch mode," said Mr Choudhury.

CAT group spokesperson and chairperson (admissions ), IIM Calcutta Prof Asish K Bhattacharyya said IIMs had every intention of introducing the online CAT by 2009, unless they run into any unexpected hurdle. "We've already asked service providers to register with us, but it's too early to decide on modalities. However, with the way the number of CAT aspirants are going up, we have to take the help of technology. As for costs, there will be economies of scale and the service providers have to take Indian rates and contexts into account," said Mr Bhattacharyya.

Nonetheless , players like IMS, TIME and Career Launcher are still a bit unsure. "It's still not clear, whether it'll be a one-day exam or one where you can take many dates," said Sharad Awasthi, president and CEO, Career Launcher. "We are, however, totally ready to meet up to the challenge for we have the inhouse expertise, a fullfledged technology division and are already into online testing for a few of our programmes."

Source:The Times Of India,10-04-08

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