The Delhi government on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BIG Institute, a joint venture of National Skill Development Corporation International and educational technology (ed-tech) company, PhysicsWallah, to provide free online 30-day coaching to over 1.63 lakh students for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Central University Entrance Test (CUET) examinations.

The CUET is a national-level entrance exam for admission to various undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs in central universities, while NEET-UG is for admission to undergraduate medical education in all medical institutions.

“This MoU has been signed to provide exclusive free online coaching for students prepare for NEET-2025 and CUET (UG)-2025, paving the way for their admission into medical colleges and central universities,” said Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

Education Minister Ashish Sood called it a “landmark initiative”. From April 2 to May 2 this year, students will receive six hours of free daily online coaching on subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, General Aptitude, and English. He added that the programme includes PDF notes, tests, and doubt classes.

Prateek Maheshwari, co-founder of PhysicsWallah, said “Despite being talented, several students don’t get access to coaching for competitive exams and lose out on opportunities. This initiative will help several students, regardless of their financial background, to seek the right guidance and resources.”

‘Commercialisation of education’

When the CUET was made mandatory for admissions to central universities, several teachers warned that it would lead to the “mushrooming of coaching centres”. University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar countered the apprehensions, claiming that students would “not need private coaching” to crack the CUET.

Abha Dev Habib, Assistant Professor of Physics at Delhi University’s Miranda House, said the signing of the MoU shows that “centralised examinations cannot be cracked without coaching”. “Further, while it may look like a pro-student step, one hopes this is not cutting into the education budget meant for public institutions. It is also important to know if this may mean outsourcing and public money in pockets of private players,” she said.