The Government of India is all set to start free coaching for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for admission to engineering colleges and the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS courses from 2019, reports the Times of India. An HRD Ministry official reportedly told the newspaper that the government will provide the scheme via the National Testing Agency (NTA).

As per the pan, the NTA will initially mentor students based on a mock exam that students will have to take on the official website or the mobile app. Candidates must take the mock test and can register for mentoring where they will be guided about their errors. The NTA has around 2,700 practice centres throughout the country, which will be converted into teaching centres, the report quotes the HRD official as saying.

The success of the scheme depends on the quality of the teaching and the guidance, but this seems to be a welcome move as coaching centres charge exorbitant fees from students. Moreover, students from rural areas generally do not have access to coaching facilities.

The HRD official is quoted saying, “They will not charge any fees and so will be especially helpful for talented students from sections where aspirants are high but private coaching is impossible due to financial constraints.”

The first iteration of the scheme will be for the JEE Main exam 2019, where candidates can sit for the mock test through the NTA’s mobile app or the NTA website. The NTA will introduce mock exams for NEET and probably also for UGC-NET later.