EXCLUSIVE: "Hope to surpass Bengaluru success here," says ALLEN CEO Nitin Kukreja on Hyderabad launch
In its plan to expand its Hyderabad operations, Kota-based ALLEN Career Institute announced the launch of new campuses in five key locations in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad today, October 5.
These campuses are located at Kukatpally, Dilsukhnagar, Secunderabad, Madhapur, and Miyapur.
The launch ceremony took place at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) in the city today, Saturday, October 5, with Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Coach of the National Badminton Team, as the guest of honour.
In the ceremony, Nitin Kukreja, Chief Executive Officer of ALLEN Career Institute, said, “Hyderabad represents the next chapter in Allen’s journey of empowering students across India. With a commitment to excellence and a focus on holistic development, we aim to transform not just academic outcomes, but lives.”
In an exclusive roundtable interaction with the media, including EdexLive, Kukreja elaborated on ALLEN’s goals for its Hyderabad chapter, the transformative potential of technology in education, the evolution of the coaching industry & need for its regulation, and alleviating the pressure faced by young learners.
Here are some excerpts:
What goals does ALLEN Career Institute stand to accomplish in its expansion to Hyderabad?
While ranks and selections are what a lot of institutes might focus on, our priority is different. We ask ourselves, “Are you doing the right things for students and parents?”
Be it academic care, building the right academic foundations for children, and making sure that they are satisfied with our academic delivery, our priority in the first year is making sure that our students are satisfied with what we are providing in terms of academic delivery. Ranks and selections would follow.
If you look at our track record in Bengaluru, for instance, we have over 20,000 students in the city, and five of them are among the top 100 rank holders in this year’s Joint Entrance Exam (JEE). We also saw similar numbers in the medical entrance exam results. Since 2016, we established 13 centres in the city.
Therefore, in the next five years, we would like to replicate this success in Hyderabad, and even surpass it.
One of the areas where ALLEN plans to establish its centre is at Dilshuknagar, which is a major coaching hub in the city, What value proposition would ALLEN offer to differentiate itself from established institutions?
Well, I think our point of differentiation is our focus on outside-of-classroom activities, both academic and non-academic. These are equally important and ALLEN always brings them to the table. The other point of differentiation which we have built over the last two years is our digital presence, through our application.
We aim to achieve parity across our online and offline learning journey for students, particularly the out-of-classroom journeys.
Whether students come to a physical classroom or an online classroom, the out-of-classroom journey is common for every student. They can practice, take tests, do their homework, create a test for themselves, and index what questions they got wrong to track their progress.
In addition, we also have fewer hours of study compared to several institutions in Hyderabad.
A lot of players in the market, like BYJU’S and Physics Wallah, started as online platforms but slowly entered offline coaching. ALLEN on the other hand was a brick-and-mortar coaching centre for 36 years and embraced EdTech much later. Could you shed light on the various challenges that were faced in entering the EdTech space?
I would not call it “EdTech” — I see it as merely introducing technology to education and ensuring that it plays a major role in the learning journey of each student.
What a lot of EdTech companies have been doing is placing a teacher in front of a camera and hoping that learning happens. We, on the other hand, incorporate technology into both offline and online education.
If students, for whatever reason, aren’t able to attend physical classes, they can come to an online class. The point is, we must get both of them right.
ALLEN has a rich history of being able to deliver academic outcomes in the physical classroom space. Therefore, we had a clear mandate to ensure learning even after we launched our online application because that’s what students come to us for.
A lot of parents thought that their children hadn’t learnt or studied anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we have shown that not only can students learn, but also make it to IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) through online learning — as one of the students enrolled in our online programme at the time made it to the top 100 in the JEE.
Today, I'm proud to say that in the two years that we have built our digital platform, 112 students from our online classrooms have gone to IITs.
ALLEN Digital has also embraced Machine Learning and Generative AI recently. In what ways is Gen AI set to change the learning process and outcomes for students?
I have always said that every child is unique, and so are their learning journeys. Their aptitude for various subjects also varies from each other. Their abilities to grasp are also different.
Therefore, each student needs different insights on what subjects they must focus on, how much time they must spend on each chapter, and so on. This is where our application, which is powered by machine learning helps pinpoint what each student must focus on and gives them insights into what topics they are strong or weak in.
As I mentioned earlier, through our application, we have made the out-of-classroom journey — which includes homework, revision, tests, monitoring, and even mental health counselling common for all students.
ALLEN was founded right when Kota started becoming synonymous with competitive exam coaching, in 1987. This offers a unique perspective to ALLEN, as it has witnessed all the ways in which the coaching industry has grown and evolved. In your opinion, how has the sector changed, and what factors have been driving these changes?
In my opinion, the fundamental driver behind the rise of coaching institutes stems from a consumer need. Many parents aspire for their children to succeed in competitive exams and pursue careers in fields like engineering.
Unfortunately, the reality in India is that a significant number of children grow up with educational deficits. It is easy for us, who live in metropolitan cities that schools offer high-quality education, but the truth is that schools in rural areas often lack proper infrastructure, qualified teachers, or, in some cases, any teachers at all.
For parents and children in these areas, coaching institutes act as a saviour and provide a critical opportunity to achieve their aspirations for a better future. This has been a consistent trend over the years across various exams, including engineering, medicine, and government services. As a parent, I understand the parents’ desire for children to have a better shot at success, which is a fundamental reason why families turn to these institutes.
As for the evolution of the coaching sector, I would say that there have been a few irresponsible players who spoilt the name of the responsible ones, but this is not something unique to the coaching industry alone. In such a scenario, I think that healthy regulations from the government are the need of the hour.
There is certainly a gap in the formal education system that is being filled by the coaching sector. Their role must be recognised, and supplemented through proper regulations.
Recently, there has been a severe backlash against coaching centres due to frequent student suicides, prompting government regulation and guidelines. There has also been significant criticism of the so-called “coaching culture,” where the proliferation of and dependence on coaching institutes is being linked with increasing pressure on students. Amidst this scrutiny, could you please elaborate on how ALLEN is ensuring student well-being?
I would like to maintain that we stand for student care.
We stand for doing the right things for the students, including telling them that it is okay if they aren’t able to crack the JEE or any other entrance exam — aur bhi hain raahien (there are other paths), as we say in Hindi.
As for the government regulations, I think that they are very good for the development of the coaching industry, as well as the protection of student interest by making sure that coaching institutes provide the right teachers, the right infrastructure and the right non-academic support.
Yes, there are some aspects of the regulations that are akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and one needs to take a second look at them. However, these regulations can help distinguish responsible coaching institutes from irresponsible ones.
I also recognise that for every 100 students we teach, maybe 10 get through — or 15, or 25. A lot of them might not make it. But I guarantee that they will have strong foundations, which will enhance their chances of success.
At the end of the day, we are here to teach students and help them get a shot at whatever aspiration they have.
