Who produced NEET topper? Coaching institutes indulge in ad war to grab credit

New Delhi: In what seems like a war among the coaching institutes, three different coaching centers have been found competing with each other to grab credit for giving tuition to this year’s NEET topper, in some form or the other.

While placing full-page advertisements in leading English dailies, the three coaching institutes — Allen, Aakash, and Narayana Medical Academy — have all put the picture of NEET topper Tanishka.

While Allen coaching institute’s advertisement was published on September 14, Narayana Medical Academy’s advertisement appeared on September 11. Aakash apparently was the first institute to claim the credit for coaching Tanishka, as its advertisement had appeared on September 9 in a national daily.

Cut-throat competition among the coaching institutes is not new given the large number of students vying for competitive medical and engineering examinations held every year. Moreover, these institutes have also attracted a lot of attention from investors.

India’s biggest online-education startup Byju acquired brick & mortar test prep leader Aakash Educational Services Ltd through a strategic merger on April 21. As per reports, Aakash has over 200 centers across the country.

Similarly, Bodhi Tree Systems, the equally-owned joint venture between James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and former Walt Disney Asia Pacific chief Uday Shankar, completed the acquisition of a 36 percent stake in test preparation center Allen Career Institute in July this year.