THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Generals SSB Academy, a new venture by veteran Generals and Brigadiers of the Indian Army who had served also as assessors, has been launched in the city to provide coaching for aspiring boys and girls who wish to join the Defence Forces as officers.
Addressing a news conference here, Lt General Thomas Mathew, who retired as Administrative Member of the Military Tribunal, and Major General M K V Panicker, who is one of the directors of the Academy, said most of the candidates from Kerala who face the SSB were not fully prepared and not guided properly, owing to which they do not pass.
They pointed out that trainers at the Generals SSB Academy are qualified assessors from Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) , Delhi, and have put in long service as assessors in the SSBs. Thus, they are at an advantageous position to guide and coach these SSB aspirants to perform well at the SSB with confidence. They also carry out personality development and impart intense practical training and counselling for enhanced performance at the SSBs.
The classes will be held at General SSB Academy at the IETE Building, Pottakuzhy, Pattom, from April 20. The fee for the two-week training will be below Rs 10,000. Brigadier V Narayanan and Brigadier M K Sasidharan were also present at the news conference.
Lt Gen Thomas Mathew and Maj Gen M K V Panicker, speaking to Express, said the training was aimed at sharpening the intelligence of the candidate. “Training cannot change the negatives in a person. But it could help to bring out what is positive in a candidate,’’ they said.
‘’The trainers cannot change a candidate. But training will help to bring out all their worth,’’ they added.
“During the five-day interviews, the assessors go deep into the conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind of the candidate. In the five-day interview process, one cannot hide his real personality,’’ they pointed out.
Referring to the current trend of rising suicides among the military personnel, they said it was more prevalent among the jawans. But more than occupational issues, it was the family problems and related pressure that were behind the rising trend of suicides of the jawans, they said.