Role of Coaching Centre in civil service preparation

In India Government is a big employer. Civil services sit’s at the top of this ladder. Millions of aspirants sit or compete for this exam conducted by National agency – Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) every year at state or central level for roughly 30000 positions which are highly sought after as selection ratio may reach 1:1000 at times. These positions carry social prestige and Job security along with financial security. It is for this very reason coaching centres are in high demand. Students enroll at one of these coaching centres to crack the exam and more importantly to get a seat in the administrative service the most in demand department. Important and famous coaching centres in demand are IAS Vision coaching in Kolkata, vajiram in delhi, Sankar IAS in Madras, etc.

Only graduates of any indian or recognised university are eligible to sit for exam with in the age bracket which is generally a variable depending on social strata you belong to between 21 and 40. Civil service exam conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is open to only Indian citizens. For the uninitiated India has an age old caste system deeply embedded and very much similar to slavery in other parts of the world. To offset that historic deprivation the Reservation system crafted with utmost care.

Civil services are a group of exams on multiple school level difficulty checking subjects like history, geography, polity, botany, zoology, chemistry, physics, etc.

Civil services Exam evaluates problem solving skills via questions on Numerical ability and General Intelligence.

Civil services Exam evaluates candidates on one optional subject which can be chosen from a vast array of subjects that are taught in universities for specialisation.

Pattern of Exams – Exams are held once a year for all the vacancies that are likely to arise in the coming year plus any upward or lower revision. From notification to final result declaration it nearly takes more than a year, since the number of times you can appear at the exam is a minimum of 6  to unlimited for many, more than a million appear for the exam at times.

Prelims – are basically exams meant to select candidates so as to evaluate them broadly in a larger number of subjects. The number of candidates selected in prelims are the ones who are allowed to sit for the mains exam and their number in any given year is a multiple of 13 to the number of vacancies expected to be filled in a given year. The exams are less elaborate and comprise single or at most 2 papers of multiple choice questions(MCQ). Some exams have negative marking for wrong questions.

Mains – highly elaborate exam in answer writing having a minimum of 5 to 12 papers at time in certain exams. Entire ability is tested via questions on various subjects as diverse as ethics to nternational relations, governance to foreign relations and art and culture to world geography to name a few. It is not only the knowledge but the art of presentation is under evaluation in these exams. Such a Unwieldly syllabus needs elaborate preparation over years to edge the competition. Candidates normally enroll in coaching centres across the country specially catering to these exams

Interview – is the final stage of the selection , most of the times final merit list is a sum total of marks in mains exam and the Interview.