BANGALORE: Even as some students have expressed their dissatisfaction at the UPSC exam pattern, coaching centres in the city seem unaffected by the row yet. Most that City Express spoke to say that the number of enrolments for their one-year courses has been steadily on the rise and that they have seen more engineers, doctors and working professionals attempting the exam over the recent years.
Anshu Sharma, director of Achiever's IAS Academy, has observed an increase in the number of doctors and software professionals who enroll for their one-year courses. “Especially with software engineers, we've seen more of them since 2010,” she says. She believes that candidates need to have “above average aptitude” to clear the exam. "So it's always advisable to have another profession as a back-up,” she adds.
Global IAS Academy, which has branches across the city, has seen youngsters in the city enrolling at a fairly steady rate over the past few years. “There's been a continuous flow for IAS because they regularly issue notifications, unlike KAS,” says its director Dr Mani S. While he recommends coaching courses, he believes any graduate can clear it in the first attempt if he/she dedicates a couple of hours a day for preparation. “They don't even have to quit their jobs, since now, most of the papers test their understanding of concepts rather than memory, which was the case earlier. This is good because only 1000 out of the nine lakh people who appear for the prelims finally qualify for postings,” he explains. And since a lot of the questions are “essay-type”, he feels that writing skills give one an edge over others. He also comments that more of the visually challenged are taking up the exam now. “This year, we have three from our institute, and last year, there were around 20 in the entire country who became civil service officers,” he says.
At the Himalai IAS Coaching Centre, approximately 450 to 600 hopeful candidates join training courses to ace the IAS exams. “We offer both crash courses and long term courses, according to the preference and the abilities of the candidates,” says Satish F, a trainer at Himalai. According to Satish, he's noticed a marked increase in the number of working class people in the IAS exams since 2011. “This is basically because of increase in job insecurity, work harassment and the stresses of working in a private company. People want to be more secure these says. There's been a drastic increase in the number of engineering students joining our courses,” he says.
Satish feels that almost anyone can apply for IAS, now that more importance is given to aptitude and presentation and writing skills than simple rote learning. “This is no rocket science. One's basics must be strong. It's all about going back to what you learned in school and applying it to current situations. One must also be aware of current affairs,” he says. Apart from the training provided at IAS coaching centres, Satish feels that students must learn skills like time management and evolve virtues like patience and the ability to avoid temptation. “India is now looking to become an e-government. It is now an active part of the global community. The candidates should be able to match the positions that such situations throw up. They should be able to serve the citizens of the country justly and competently,” adds Satish.