With the present scenario of COVID-19, students have been among the worst affected. In an effort to help students from Guwahati and the entire Northeast region, The TarGATE Academy, an institute which specializes in preparing students for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (G.A.T.E.) examination, is here to the rescue.
The academy is educating students free of cost during the lockdown through online lectures on Facebook and through assistance on social media platforms. This is being done with the goal of helping students, by solving queries of those who cannot attend classes, and for those who feel academically stranded where they were, before the outbreak of this Pandemic.
The benefit of these free online classes conducted by the academy are currently being derived by students from various regions across the country such as West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand and the intellects behind this initiative wish to help students of the northeast take advantage of the resources made available by them.
The journey of this unique institute began two years ago, in 2018, when a group of likeminded individuals took it up as a challenge to pick students with 5 to 6 back papers in Engineering from universities across the city and turned those very students into class toppers, semester toppers and eventually university toppers!
Students from early batches of the institute began with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4 and today, no student enrolled in the academy scores less than a 7 CGPA; which is the lowest the institute has seen.
There is a lot of competition outside of Assam that students are not aware of. “Concepts of students these days are basically flawed in many aspects,” said Shashank Shekhar Singh, faculty member and the intellect behind the establishment of the institute, speaking with G Plus.
Ideally, the institute strives to reduce outflow of students and reduce brain drain from the region by providing them with the best of educational facilities. Students need not go outside to other metropolitan cities and struggle to adapt to the changes in lifestyle anymore, as the academy brings them quality education right here in their home state.
Apart from GATE, the institute prepares students for different competitive exams like Coal India Limited (CIL), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). These examinations are highly coveted and a career in these esteemed organizations is regarded as a major stepping stone to success.
Most engineers, even in PSUs of Assam are from outside the region, not a lot of students from the Northeast are able to crack competitive exams. “There are lots of opportunities out there for students, they need to grab the bull by the horns and crack these exams; make it big on the educational front,” the tutor turned entrepreneur added.
The idea behind the very inception of the institute that acted as a foundation on which the academy was built, also addressed four major problems faced by students; lack of awareness, change in learning processes, fear of approaching problems and less rate of Success. The institute works on eliminating all these hindrances along with the fear of numerical and applications of theories, by giving students hands-on approach to breakdown concepts.
Their team works tirelessly to increase success rate of students from the Northeast region in competitive exams such as GATE with an aim to empower students from the region. “We saw a lag in between understanding and application of concepts being taught and we immediately decided to help students overcome this. To bridge this gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, we started this initiative,” said the visionary educationist Shashank Shekhar Singh, who had cracked the GATE exam with an all India rank of 68.
Unless students are able to comprehend, visualize and apply what they learn, the purpose stands defeated. Faculty members at The TarGATE Academy tackle complex situations in simple ways that students find easy, not only to understand, but also to retain and recall later on.
Tutors at the academy do not differentiate between toppers and students with backlogs. “We accept all students seeking knowledge with the zeal and determination to learn. We do not divide or classify students based on their marks and we accommodate all students in a single batch itself, ensuring that the ratio of teachers to students is optimum,” says another faculty and part of the TarGATE team, Monjur Ahmed. They ensure that students study in a group where each student has an equal level of improvement.
The academy also provides personality development as part of their course unlike other such coaching institutes in the city. Students seeking guidance are easily demotivated by backlogs and other such problems on the academic front which in turn leads to lack confidence. The institute ensures that students overcome that problem.
“We believe in having a one to one personal connection with our students to enhance their inbuilt abilities and communication skills, apart from helping them progress in academics,” said Himashish Baishya, faculty of Personality Development at The TarGATE Academy, who is also an advocate for motivation of students.
“A lot of students register for competitive exams like GATE, but fail from appearing when the time to sit for the examination comes. This is majorly due to lack of confidence and the academy helps students overcome any such fear,” said Himashish Baishya. Students are prepared not just for their University exams but also for entrances and other competitive exams alongside training to sit for interviews and crack them all.
Presently, they have an online model for students where they can watch video lectures and have access to study material, apart from that they also have an offline model where they provide students facing connectivity and other issues with offline study material which is equally comprehensive and accessible from any device; with both models being provided at affordable prices.
The masterminds behind the institute continue to compile more comprehensive study material with each passing day to help students from across the region achieve their dreams with a mission to educate students and strengthen technical education in the region.
In a post pandemic world, where COVID-19 has hit all forms of employment opportunities, competition is the primary way ahead. With major channels and companies laying off, The TarGATE Academy helps students understand the necessity of enhancing their learning curve.
