New Delhi: Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi will provide free coaching to engineering aspirants who cannot afford institutes that cost a fortune to crack the Joint Entrance Examination.

A group of 30 volunteers have launched the teaching project titled ‘Aarohan’, where they will be coaching students of classes XI and XII who are preparing for the exam. The programme has been on for some years, but it is only this time the number of students enrolled has gone up from 10 to 127. Classes begin on August 26.

Besides using social media for the outreach, this year the team visited over 15 government schools to reach aspirants and involved teachers and former students to spread the word.

“The Aarohan project was originally launched in 2014. However, since we could not promote it much, the number of students enrolled was just around 10-12. This year we visited a number of government schools and distributed pamphlets. Also, we asked students who we had taught earlier to spread the word,” said Shreyash Raj, a second-year student of mechanical engineering and executive, NSS.

The group has already conducted an orientation programme attended by 66 students who signed up for the project. Earlier, Raj said, they would only share project details on Facebook, which would only get through a few students. This year, the management has given its recognition to the programme, which has helped a lot.

The classes will be held between 4 pm and 7 pm five days a week. Asked how they find time with a rigorous studying schedule, volunteers said they have a roster. Those interested in teaching have to go through an interview conducted by seniors.