When coaching becomes a paywall, higher education loses meritorious students from marginalised backgrounds — and society loses talent.
Entrance tests aspire to be meritocratic, yet success is increasingly correlated with coaching spend. Fee waivers in colleges help little if the gate itself is toll-based. The answer lies in robust school-level preparation, publicly funded bridge courses, and transparent question banks that value reasoning over rote.
We cannot afford a system where aspiration is eclipsed by money. Equity is not the enemy of excellence; it is its precondition.