HYDERABAD: After the accolades and praise, top scorers in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination are being flooded with offers of fee concessions and other allurements by corporate colleges that are trying to admit them.

Students who scored more than 550 are being particularly targeted by all top colleges while those between 500 and 550 marks are also not left alone. Marketing executives of various colleges are visiting the hoouses of successful students with attractive offers like waiver of fee or concessions in EAMCET, AIEEE and IIT coaching along with the Intermediate course. Those with good marks in mathematics and physical sciences are the most sought-after.

In fact, visits to the homes of potential candidates began a month ago. Only the achievements of the colleges were highlighted to the parents at that time but now they are being lured with fee concessions. Says Raghu, a parent, "My daughter has been offered good concession as her marks are above 550." Similar offers came to Rishika, another student with marks above 500.

Principal of a corporate college admitted that their lecturers and executives have been visiting the homes of successful candidates. He says students with more than 560 marks are being offered free education and if they are first in their respective schools there are some other concessions. Of course, the location of the college and reputation of the branch are other factors that decide concessions.

While colleges support their strategy, academics feel parents should not fall for this kind of allurements. "Remember that only a few out of the lakhs of students taking Intermediate examination get ranks.

No college can create a ranker but they can only assist in enhancing the learning abilities of students with good teachers. So judge the college by the faculty and academic environment and not figures," advises a teacher. He says it is better if parents visit the college first to see the facilities.

Merit matters

While some parents find no fault with the fee concessions and are ready to join their wards, some others have no such intentions. They want to purely go by the merit of the college, its teachers and facilities and not the image.

A majority among them still prefer corporate colleges as they feel that there is some serious teaching there unlike Government colleges.

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