In the last 6 weeks, I have made 5 trips to Delhi. I had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of students from different cities who came to Delhi with great hopes to pursue the education of their dreams and joined big brands of actuarial coaching to build their careers. Everything about actuarial science is so fascinating in Delhi. People are promised immediate jobs, high packages, growth, and much more.
Mesmerized by the talks, a student joins a particular teacher at a particular institute and starts working hard. Every institute offers 2 trial classes and purposely takes easy topics (like Chapter 3 in CT6 or Chapters 7/8 directly in CT4) first to make students feel comfortable and confident about the teaching, instead of choosing the right topic to start with, and the student ends up taking admission. Once the fees are received, the good days end soon.
Some difficult topics get omitted, most concepts are ignored, and only the application of formulas is discussed. Students don’t realize its long-term impact and accept this without hesitation in most cases, as it makes passing the exam easier. They never know this attitude will cause no harm to ignorant teachers but will affect them in the long run when they sit for interviews and realize that they know nothing about the practical application of the same formula or topic.
In the last 1 week, I interviewed several candidates to help them with internships, and it was difficult for me to accept this trend among students. Some students who did self-study were just amazing. They performed much better than those coached by “experts.”
Nevertheless, this happens in every coaching institute in every industry. This cannot be changed. It is as difficult as removing corruption from any system in India. As a student, what you need to do is be more careful and smart and think about yourself before accepting things as they are presented. Students, out of respect, don’t question teachers, and that is where the problem starts. Since teachers are now commercial, you should also behave like a well-informed client. Ask your teacher not to omit any part of the chapter, even if it is not relevant to the exam. Ask them to cover it at least outside class hours if other students are less interested. Don’t be ignorant yourself; you are creating holes in your knowledge that will be difficult to fill later.
After meeting students, I am much more confident about the prospects of Smonk in Delhi. So many students were literally waiting for us to announce our presence in Delhi. If you associate with Smonk, I can assure you of the following things:
- Proper learning of concepts. I will not hesitate to replace our teachers if I receive any bad feedback from any student.
- No false dreams, keeping you in touch with reality.
- “Real” placement support in core companies beyond a few KPOs (KPOs will never help you excel in your career beyond fat cheques).
- We will work on you personally to make you ready for the industry to accept you. If you lack communication skills, if you lack writing skills, or if you struggle with some mathematical concepts, we will help you overcome them.
- Our relationship will not be limited to fee receipts.
My initial words might sound very negative, but it is important at this point to speak up and boast about Smonk to help reverse the trend.
It is equally difficult for us to survive commercially while trying to swim against the wave, but we are committed. We are committed to our values, ethics, mission, and vision. With Buddha’s face resembling our logo, we can never find peace by making false promises to anyone regarding anything.
Just to prove a point, have you ever found a Smonk student looking for a job on online portals, frustrated about the challenges they have to face? They all knew about the intensity of the struggle they would have to go through before settling down, and they are doing it with positivity, peace, and calm, finding success before others.
Think of yourself at least now, and participate in this revolutionary change we strive to bring to the coaching industry. As our Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, says, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”