The Truth About Online Coaching

Disclaimer

What you are about to read in the following paragraphs is an analysis of the available portals/ platforms based on unbiased and barebones analysis. If you are not comfortable with criticism, do not go ahead of this disclaimer.

First Things First

To all those in a dilemma, let me set things straight, these online coaching people all have the same pattern. They follow three strategies; *Shock and Awe*, *Bait and Hook* and *Bait and Switch*

Strategise to Capitalise

Every business depends on one thing strategy. Without this, the greatest business people would not exist as we know it today. Strategy is important as it provides the business a way to sustain. Sustenance, as we know it comes from “capital”, in simple terms, money. Robert Kiyosaki, in his ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ series of books, talks about how to utilise OPM (Other People’s Money) and OPT (Other People’s Time). While in all earnest, Robert’s advise was to ensure that people learn how to run better businesses and how to invest better, the world has taken a different spin on it.

I have termed what the world is doing today as STC; Strategise to Capitalise. Companies often start with a set of strategies depending on their field, they, if absolutely essential, pivot. This pivot would also reflect a large portion of their initial strategy. This is where the online coaching guys differ.

Read on…

Three Blind Mice

I like to call these strategies often used by these online coaching companies as the Three Blind Mice

First Mouse – Shock and Awe

They will ask your child to attend a free class in which they will *shock* you and your child with some awesome animations and top class explanations. These are essentially, run-of-the-mill, boilerplate stuff. These may or may not be available throughout the courses.

We will often be beyond words or explanations as to wherefrom do these modules come from. Our children are highly impressionable and learn better through Game Based Learning. This is not something that these online guys have a proprietary hold over, it is something that science has taught. 

Second Mouse – Bait and Hook

After you’ve been convinced they will ask your child to appear in an ELKT/EBT/IET (Entry Level Knowledge Test/ Entry Behaviour Test/ Initial Evaluation Template (or) Test). They will tell you that it is to benchmark the kid. This paper will be very tough. So tough that even you will get a few question wrong. This is the first *bait*

After evaluation, they will give you some crap like “custom designed improvement module” or “personalised tutoring approach” or some nonsense that you will feel that your kid is the centre of their attention. 

Cut to 6 months later, they will tell you that they want to do an Interim Evaluation/ Assessment. This paper at the outset will be easier than the first one. Plus with the tutoring received, your kiddo will do well. Not that well but about 30-35% improvement will be there. This is the *hook* part. 

You will be convinced along with your kid that it is the classes which have made a difference. 

Third Mouse – Bait and Switch

Cut to exams (internal or external – doesn’t matter). Your kid may or may not fare as well as they were. This will trigger another load of crap called “elevated learning curve” or “beyond means learning”, anything to justify that your child is brilliant if they continue with them as school exams don’t reflect the true brilliance of our kids. This is the second *bait*. If you fall for it comes the *switch*

Assuming you continue with them and your kid still doesn’t show improvement, they will give you a very logical explanation of how not every child is capable of understanding the standard methods adopted by them and that your child should be part of their “follow up” or “drop” or “intensive” or “repeater” class during the summer vacations

Bottom Line

There are adequate examples of parents running behind these so called “India’s No 1 Online Educator” to get a refund of the fees they were promised.

Education has ceased to be passion driven and has become just another means of making money. It still stays a passion for the very many teachers who are involved in it, but once they are part of large organisation, their passion is benched by the company’s lust for money.

If you really want your child to excel and join some professional course, get them enrolled in a contact classroom. Give them and yourselves time to realise their hidden potential. If they do not show exceptional results, remember, they were never meant to in the first place.

Every year, top institutes in the country report of suicides by young students who are in the first or second year of the course. Agreed that there are many more factors to what led to that ultimate step, just don’t make parental pressure one of it.

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© Rahul Sitaraman, 2022. All rights reserved. Views expressed are personal except where cited, and written without any malice or ill-intention. i can be reached at me@rahulsitaraman.info and rahulsitaraman@hotmail.com