Gone are the days when only books and guides could be bought for a price. Now are days when projects, models and even theses can be bought, literally off the shelf from shops.

The pressure on children in schools to come up with good models, and competition to assess who scores higher in activity-based assignments, have resulted in the mushrooming of shops that take care of such needs.

There are a lot many shops in select areas such as Flower Market and Town Hall that make and sell projects and models for school students, albeit discreetly. And, it is not amiss to say that they do brisk business.

“Parents come asking for different types of models. Some are readily available but most of the time we have to make customized models to suit the requirement of the school. We prepare models for science, mathematics and Tamil, besides projects for B.Ed. training. Our clients are from Coimbatore, Udumalpet, Udhugamandalam and Coonor,” says Mohammed Jaffar, who owns a shop in Town Hall.

For bigger projects and working model, he takes at least one week. For the smaller ones, the time taken is only one or two days.

The price of the project or model depends on the size and ranges anywhere between Rs. 300 and Rs 5,000. For instance, the model of Coimbatore city may cost Rs 3,000; the working model of a heart may cost up to Rs 4,000, while a dummy model of a house could cost between Rs 300 and Rs 500, depending on the size.

Mr. Jaffar adds that sometimes parents ask for models without mentioning the name of the school.

For those wanting to make the projects at home, the shops at Town Hall also sell raw materials. “One can find materials that include miniature sized animals, plants, and mountains among others that could depict a landscape. About 1,000 stickers on various subjects and topics are also available,” says N. Samsudeen, an employee of a shop in Town Hall.

According to the shop keepers, the projects / models that are on high demand are, solar system, simple pendulum, windmill, air, water and noise pollution, traffic signals, heart, and parts of the human anatomy.