AI Tutors vs Commercial Tuitions: What do school teachers think?

Scene: Two teachers – Mrs. Nair, a senior mathematics teacher, and Mr. Mehta, a physics teacher – are having chai in the school staff room after a long day. The classroom is empty, but their frustration lingers in the air.

Mrs. Nair: You know, Mehta sir, I sometimes wonder why we even bother teaching anymore. Half my students don't listen in class. Their parents have already enrolled them in some fancy coaching institute. Apparently, we're too "old-school" for them.

Mr. Mehta: (laughs wearily) Tell me about it! Yesterday, one of my students told me outright, "Sir, we already learnt this in our coaching class." The same child scored terribly in the test. Clearly, they attend coaching, but they don't understand anything.

Mrs. Nair: Exactly! These commercial tuition centers spend lakhs on advertisements. Every street has posters screaming "100% results!" and "AIR Topper from our batch!" Parents fall for the marketing. They think if they pay more, their child will automatically become a topper.

Mr. Mehta: Yes, and they've started believing schools are useless because we have large class sizes. But you know the irony? The bigger the coaching class, the more crowded it is! You have 300 students crammed into a lecture hall watching one man with a microphone scribble on a board. That's not learning – that's spectatorship.

Mrs. Nair: Well said! And because parents think schools are second-rate, students don't take school seriously. They treat school like a time-pass until the "real learning" happens at coaching. Naturally, when students disengage, teachers lose motivation too. It's a vicious cycle – a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Mr. Mehta: That's the tragedy. Coaching classes make kids dependent on spoon-feeding. They learn to cram and chase marks, not understanding. And because exam results have become the only metric of success, parents proudly say, "My son scored 95!" as if that number defines intelligence.

Mrs. Nair: You know, when we were students, scoring marks was also the goal. But the world has changed. Knowledge is everywhere now. What children need today is not more information – it's curiosity and critical thinking. Coaching classes kill both.

Mr. Mehta: True. They create professional memorizers, not problem-solvers. And when the JEE or NEET results come, 95% of their students quietly vanish from the brochures. Only the toppers' photos stay up like trophies. Parents never ask what happened to the rest.

Mrs. Nair: (smiling) Funny you say that – one of the smarter parents in my class stopped sending her son to coaching altogether. Instead, she bought him an ApnaPC.

Mr. Mehta: Really? What's that?

Mrs. Nair: It's a personal education PC that comes with an AI tutor. The child learns at his own pace. No rigid schedules, no long commutes. The AI explains concepts, gives practice problems, and even tracks weak areas. She said her son actually looks happy while studying now!

Mr. Mehta: That sounds revolutionary! So he studies completely on his own?

Mrs. Nair: Mostly, yes – but not in isolation. He invites two or three friends from his colony to join him on weekends. They sit together around the ApnaPC, solve questions, discuss doubts, and even quiz each other. It's like a mini learning pod. They learn collaboratively – not competitively.

Mr. Mehta: Now that sounds like real learning. Engaged, interactive, and joyful. No pressure, no punishment. Just pure curiosity-driven exploration.

Mrs. Nair: Exactly. The best part is – no one's forcing them. They're studying because they want to, not because someone's standing over them with a stick.

Mr. Mehta: And I suppose it's much safer too – no commuting through traffic, no late-night batches. Parents must be relieved.

Mrs. Nair: Oh yes, especially mothers. No worrying about pickup and drop, or their children hanging around malls between coaching sessions. With an ApnaPC, learning happens right from home, in a familiar, safe environment.

Mr. Mehta: I can imagine how much that reduces stress. Coaching classes have turned education into a rat race. But what if the child isn't a rat? What if he wants to explore instead of just memorize?

Mrs. Nair: (laughs) Then the AI tutor is perfect! It lets children ask questions endlessly – no fear of being mocked or scolded. It's patient, available 24x7, and explains things differently until the student truly understands.

Mr. Mehta: So, in a way, it gives agency back to the learner. Instead of being trapped in a 100-student classroom listening to the same lecture, the child controls the pace and direction. That's powerful.

Mrs. Nair: You know what's even more fascinating? I've noticed that students using AI tutors start performing better in school. Not because they cram harder, but because they actually comprehend what we teach. They ask sharper questions now.

Mr. Mehta: Which means – teachers like us can finally focus on teaching instead of policing. We can move from "covering the syllabus" to "uncovering curiosity."

Mrs. Nair: That's the dream, isn't it? But for that, parents must stop equating marks with intelligence. They need to realize that coaching classes don't make kids smart – they make them scared of failure.

Mr. Mehta: Well said. We need more parents like that mother with the ApnaPC – parents who trust their children enough to let them learn for themselves.

Mrs. Nair: Yes. Education should be about empowerment, not exploitation. And technology, when used right, can finally make that possible.

Mr. Mehta: Maybe someday, the headlines will change from "XYZ Coaching Produces Another Topper" to "Students Learn to Think for Themselves."

Mrs. Nair: (smiling) That day isn't far, Mehta sir. It's already happening – one ApnaPC at a time.

Conclusion

This conversation reflects a growing truth in India's education system: commercial coaching centers have turned learning into a business, while AI tutors are quietly turning it back into a joyful journey.

When children learn together at home on an ApnaPC, they don't just study – they discover. When teachers see that spark return to their students' eyes, they rediscover their own passion for teaching.

Help us improve India's first free AI Tutor for JEE students at app.jee.eklavya.io!

We want students to become independent, self-directed, lifelong learners – because true education begins when curiosity, not coercion, drives the learning.