The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Side Of IAS Coaching Institutes
The Dream:
“Laal Light Wali Gadi” is the colloquial term to which all Indian households are familiar with. It is the dream of a typical Indian to become a district collector (“ DC Sahib”). This dream is passed on from one generation to another much like an heirloom. To realise this dream one has to clear the “IAS exam”. IAS exam is a misnomer for the three-stage civil services exam conducted by UPSC. Indeed Civil services exam is one of the toughest exams to crack. The success rate is a meagre 0.3 per cent. The chance of becoming an IAS officer is as low as 0.04 per cent. Thus over the years, numerous coaching centre hubs have cropped up in the name of providing quality education and guidance to UPSC aspirants.
Chandigarh as New Education Hub:
Most of the aspirants beginning their preparation for various competitive exams (including civil services exam) are clueless about this exam’s demands. Also many aspirants cannot simply afford to go to metro cities like Delhi and take coaching. Thus in recent years Chandigarh has emerged as the new hub for competitive exam preparation in North India. Since Chandigarh provides the same advantages of studying in Delhi. But at a much cheaper cost, better living conditions and a cleaner environment.
Thousands of aspiring candidates flock to Chandigarh from every nook and corner of India to prepare for various competitive exams such as law, medical and engineering entrance exams, SSB, IBPS, UPSC IAS, State civil services exams, PCS, HAS, HCS etc. Particularly many candidates which earlier used to go to Delhi for the civil services coaching now prefer Chandigarh. As a result, many big and small coaching centres have mushroomed in Chandigarh. They make up for a multi-crore-rupee industry. Among these countless coaching institutes for IAS, Students and parents are confused which one they should choose as coaching plays an important role as self-study.
The Bad and the Ugly Side:
Chandigarh has endless options of institutes as far as Civil Services Examination Coaching is concerned. But many institutes here are more or less the same in terms of faculty, study material & resources. Many of the bigger well-established institutes are doing well in terms of coaching and teaching methodology. But upon deeper research factors like old students feedback, classroom sizes, and the ratio of faculty to students are below average.
The disease of false advertising with ailed Delhi’s coaching institutes has slowly spread its roots in Chandigarh as well.
After the declaration of results this year, the internet was flooded with questions about IAS topper Nandini K R.
- Where did she go for UPSC coaching?
- Did she take coaching at all?
- What is her secret to success?
Her name soon popped up on the websites of few leading coaching institutes in both Delhi and Chandigarh. But Nandini denies taking classes there.
Advertising watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has reprimanded few institutes several times for their “unsubstantiated” claims and for violation of the guidelines for advertising. But problem is that there is no authentic account of the scale and functioning of this market.
The Good Side:
Only few coaching institutes indulge in such mischief in Chandigarh. The good thing is that Chandigarh has a lot of huge positives in terms of civil services preparation as well. Good quality, more accountability, more affordable fee structure, cleaner living environment and better living conditions in rented space being few of the advantages.
Coaching institutes in Chandigarh are of the best quality in terms of timely delivery and completion of complete courses. They are the highest rated and most recommended institute by civil services aspirants on the internet.
For example, our institute O2 IAS academy has the most dynamic & recommended academic and content team. 95% of students in our academy are from our older and existing student’s references. We provide ideal faculty to student ratio by keeping our batches small. This ensures personal attention to each candidate for a better understanding of key concepts and clearing doubts. This is unlike other institutes in Delhi where batch strength is invariable between 250 and 300.
The best part is that SUPPORT is provided until SUCCESS and that too in a nominal fee. The faculty is supportive and hardworking. Personal attention and student satisfaction are the factors that help us in keeping up with the changing trend of the UPSC. The focus is on providing an in-depth understanding of key points. Simple teaching methods along with audio-visual aids are used to ensure this. Frequent guest lectures by selected candidates are also a key feature.
Free study material & daily hand-outs are also a part of the coaching package and are timely given to all candidates. The IAS coaching is inclusive of both regular and surprise evaluation of the preparation by classroom test. Alongside a comprehensive test series of complete courses are also provided. Daily current affairs analysis also being done
Apart from that DEMO classes are also provided without charging any fee. Convenient mode of fee payment with the option of paying in installations is yet another student-centric feature. Crisp and easy to understand study material, good quality lectures, repeated revisions, proper guidance, doubt sessions are some of the best features.
In the end, I would like to conclude by saying : The best way to find a suitable coaching for UPSC preparation in Chandigarh is by checking the following attributes:
- Past results of the coaching,
- Faculties Experience,
- The infrastructure of the coaching,
- Reviews of that coaching from the ex-students
And Teaching Methodology. And Chandigarh has all of these qualities in its IAS coaching institutes.
