NIOS STUDENT ARJUN BHARAT

Gone are the days where ones board marks were the ticket to his college entrance.
Examinations like JEE (Advanced) have pushed the thinking of students to new heights,
sometimes a little beyond as well.
Lakhs of students work hard with the aim of clearing JEE, but only a handful of them pass out with flying
colours. Such achievements are possible only with sustained and persistent efforts, chiefly characterized
by brainstorming problems and exhaustive theory learning sessions. Obviously, this
requires an extremely well planned and neatly mapped schedule, where one must strive to work hard
and love the learning process.

Earlier being a student at an institution that has nationwide repute for successfully training IIT-JEE
aspirants, only a sound and solid program with a higher level of intellectuality can change ones mindset
and persuade him to leave his old institute behind, which, needless to say, was the case with me. I was
well aware of the fact that travelling from Adyar to West Mambalam twice a day was no mean task, for
it would consume much time and energy, as compared to the earlier institute which was quite nearby.
However, I underwent a complete change in my mindset after I met Professor K.K.Anand, who
enlightened me about this new idea of his, a truly ingenious one. I am proud to say that I have been in
the NIOS batch for 6 months now, and I visualize myself as more confident and hardworking with regard
to my preparation for JEE (Advanced).

The environment in the NIOS batch is a healthy one where each student can thoroughly understand and
imbibe all the concepts that he/she requires for competitive exams. Special attention is paid to other
exams as well, primarily the Olympiads & KVPY.

Students enjoy the additional benefit of receiving extra hours with the top class and highly dedicated
faculty as compared to other CRP students which can accelerate their learning, thus empowering the
bright as well as the average who soon invite themselves to the former.

One of the main advantages of NIOS is the flexible nature of open schooling which allows larger
preparatory time for competitive examinations. This boosts a students confidence, helps him discover
his hidden potential and reinvent his thought process to expand his vision of the problems he solves,
which is quintessential tool for cracking JEE(Advanced).

Ample time is made available to students to keep up to date with his E-pad learning schedule regarding
the excellent video lectures of Prof KK Anand, an important tool to enhance upto advanced conceptual
learning & problem solving, as a consequence of which the toughest of problems appear familiar.

I conclude by saying that through the NIOS batch, a lush and evergreen path has been laid, where
hardworking students may leave their trail as they traverse the thick bushes on their way, ultimately
reaching the outstretched arms of success across the jungle of life, under the able guidance of SMART.
This, I believe, is sufficient to enthuse all my fellow students who read my testimonial, to consider
joining the NIOS batch (ie henceforth Smart Minds Academy) without any apprehension.

My best wishes to you all.

Arjun Bharat (Studied at Sishya School, Adyar till Std X)

Std XI (2015-17 NIOS Batch)
 NIOS BATCH STUDENT KEERTHANA GURUSHANKAR

In the beginning of this year, while the decision to enroll myself in SMARTs NIOS
Integrated Program was probably easier for me than it was for my peers, who were
not students of SMART in previous years. I too felt reasonable hesitation while
considering my options, since withdrawing oneself from regular schooling is a big
decision to take, given that the concept of Open Schooling is virtually unheard of.
However, as a student of Prof.K.K.Anands SMART from class VIII, who had
thoroughly enjoyed attending classes for the last three years and benefitted a great
deal from them. I decided to put my confidence in the institution and joined
SMARTs full-fledged Integrated Program.

In the relatively short span that my peers and I have been attending these classes, we have been put through
an intense training program, taught by an excellent faculty team. The extra class hours & enhanced faculty
attention have given us the time and opportunity to analyze our progress and work on areas for
improvement. It has also given us the opportunity to learn concepts that we would not have otherwise been
able to learn.

The program is well structured to accommodate enough time for the completion of the video lectures of
Anand Sir, which are categorized into two levels of difficulty in general. Not a day passes without learning
from these profound and enjoyable video lectures.

Furthermore, as it becomes increasingly more so that the performance of a student in competitive exams is
determined more by the amount of effort put in, than by ones intellectual capabilities, the extra time that the
student gets for preparation through such alternate schooling is bound to set them above the rest - not only
by increasing the amount of work he/she will be able to put in, but also by relieving them of the stress of
having to attend both school and coaching classes after.

With the conventional schooling system often being thrown under the dirt for its taxation of students
expecting the reproduction of text book answers in exams and lacking diversification to handle the varied
aptitudes and areas of interest of its students, a specialized institution catering purely to the education of
Gifted and Talented children may well be the revolutionary idea that we need. The pace of learning set
and the emphasis placed on both the qualitative & quantitative understanding of the subject will constantly
throw challenges at the students minds and give us an opportunity to understand concepts at a deeper level.

I believe that alternative schooling such as Smart Minds Academy is the future of our education system
and I am thoroughly excited to do my final year of schooling in the institution and be a part of this
spearheading endeavour.

Keerthana Gurushankar

A Student of P.S.B.B. K.K.Nagar till Standard X, before moving to NIOS Batch (2015-17) of SMART in
the Academic Year 2015-16.
 NIOS BATCH STUDENT - VIJAYARAJ SHANMUGARAJ
I am Vijayraj, a student of S t d XI in SMART and have selected the
NIOS batch after understanding the immense advantage it offers. It is in
fact for this course that my family moved from Bengaluru to Chennai.
SMART not only prepares us well for the competitive exams, but also for
the NIOS syllabus including Computer S ci e n ce and English.
Previously from 8th standard I was also a student o f an All India Institute, which has its
presence even in Chennai. But during t h e 8th and 9th Stds, I felt that the Institutes
program only covered CBSE syllabus, with some additions and a bit of MAT etc.

I have studied my X standard in CBSE board i n Bengaluru, and f r o m 9th standard I

a m usi n g KK Anand sirs E -pad lectures & Study Materials. When I got the E- pad
lectures from KK Anand sir, I felt the vast difference, and due to KK Anand Sirs study
material, I gained t h e confidence, both in MAT and SAT, and cracked the NTSE 1st
Level quite easily. The learning experience through the Bridge Course during the 9th Std
summer vacation, E-Pad video lectures, study materials, online assignments & tests, etc
made me have a good foundation for JEE Advanced. Then, I moved to Chennai, and
under the direct guidance of Anand Sir, I cleared the 2nd Level and became a NTSE
scholar. I would like to dedicate my success to Anand Sir. I felt that moving to
Chennai was completely worth it.
The E -pad lecture schedules, assignments and online test schedules provided by KK
Anand sir demands more number of concentrated learning hours per day. Still, I am able to
more or less follow it up because of the way the course is designed for the NIOS batch.

At SMART, the teachers of different subjects for IIT-JEE preparation a r e specialists and
they g u i d e us with individual care. When we complete one level, they are able to
provide problems at the next level. This NIOS batch is like Gurukul studies and it allows
us to prepare for IIT-JEE without any d i s t r a c t i o n s . Hence, I feel that this new program
is a God- given opportunity for the IIT aspirants and I would happily and c o n f i d e n t l y
suggest this for a ll serious IIT aspirants. I am also very happy to be part of the first
batch of standard XII students from Smart Minds Academy.
Vijayraj Shanmugaraj,
NIOS Batch (2015-17)