The Menace of the Coaching Industry | Crack Civil Services in First Attempt by Divey Sethi, IRS - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


The Menace of the Coaching Industry
The coaching industry exploits the fear psychosis of the aspirants. The 
contention of the institutes is that they aid and assist in the preparation 
of an aspirant. Right from familiarizing with what civil services are, 
its basic tenets, the pattern of examination, and the recent changes, 
the coaching industry grills the aspirant via its classroom programs, 
test series, and mock interviews so that they become fit to join civil 
services in the eyes of UPSC.
It cannot be denied that coaching is more required for the less self-
motivated candidates. It tends to create regularity in studies by the push 
factor of the speedily advancing course and the pull factor of the fellow 
batch mates. Every aspirant faces a paucity of time in this preparation 
where the course is enormous. Here, the concise notes and the study 
material given by the coaching institutes may also help the candidate if 
used wisely.
However, the other side to this story is far from being innocuous; in 
fact, dismal is the word that I should use. Most of the big names in this 
industry are playing with the dreams of the aspirants. They are using 
pure marketing techniques to attract students from every segment 
and from every corner of the country. And friends, these fraudulent 
techniques are not unknown to us. In 2012, I was in search of a coaching 
program suitable to my needs. I ventured to some big coaching institutes 
and found that each of them claimed at least 500 selections of their own 
among the total of 1100 or so! How? Each of these coaching institutes 
conducted mock interview sessions of successful candidates during the 
main examination. Most of the aspirants register to appear in the mock 
interviews at 2 or even 3 different coaching institutes. The result is 
the high overlapping of the names of successful candidates in various 
institutes.
Page 2


The Menace of the Coaching Industry
The coaching industry exploits the fear psychosis of the aspirants. The 
contention of the institutes is that they aid and assist in the preparation 
of an aspirant. Right from familiarizing with what civil services are, 
its basic tenets, the pattern of examination, and the recent changes, 
the coaching industry grills the aspirant via its classroom programs, 
test series, and mock interviews so that they become fit to join civil 
services in the eyes of UPSC.
It cannot be denied that coaching is more required for the less self-
motivated candidates. It tends to create regularity in studies by the push 
factor of the speedily advancing course and the pull factor of the fellow 
batch mates. Every aspirant faces a paucity of time in this preparation 
where the course is enormous. Here, the concise notes and the study 
material given by the coaching institutes may also help the candidate if 
used wisely.
However, the other side to this story is far from being innocuous; in 
fact, dismal is the word that I should use. Most of the big names in this 
industry are playing with the dreams of the aspirants. They are using 
pure marketing techniques to attract students from every segment 
and from every corner of the country. And friends, these fraudulent 
techniques are not unknown to us. In 2012, I was in search of a coaching 
program suitable to my needs. I ventured to some big coaching institutes 
and found that each of them claimed at least 500 selections of their own 
among the total of 1100 or so! How? Each of these coaching institutes 
conducted mock interview sessions of successful candidates during the 
main examination. Most of the aspirants register to appear in the mock 
interviews at 2 or even 3 different coaching institutes. The result is 
the high overlapping of the names of successful candidates in various 
institutes.
When I became suspicious of these replicating results of coaching 
institutes, I tried to discern some other ways of selecting the one 
which was ‘perfect’ and which could sail me through this civil 
services preparation. I got hold of The Hindu newspaper and started 
reading it for a few days. On one fine day, I found an open invitation 
to attend a seminar by one ‘success guru.’ That advertisement 
repeated itself continuously for 3 or 4 days. I finally registered 
myself for that miraculous seminar. During the seminar, the ‘success 
guru’ gave us an insight into civil services and various benefits of his 
institute, and he also introduced some of the toppers of that year. 
Those selected candidates spoke so highly of the institute that I was 
impressed and decided to join that institute by submitting a fee of 
around Rs. 40,000/-.
After attending the coaching on weekends for 3 weeks, I could perceive 
the hollowness of the education that the institute was providing. The 
teachers were incompetent and least concerned about the welfare 
of students, and the learning mechanism was absolutely focused on 
rote learning. I was fortunate enough to have perceived the system 
and left it with the least damage done to my concepts and vision; 
otherwise, I would not have been selected to write this book. Only 
financial damage was done to my pocket after I was denied a refund 
by the ‘glamorous’ institute! There would have been numerous such 
aspirants who had shared the same fate and parted ways with their 
hard-earned money for the elaborate yet hollow coaching programs.
The nuisance is not limited to the replication of results only. It stretches 
in various dimensions from thereon, and the impact on the aspirants 
is significant if he/she is not aware of the full facts regarding these 
institutes. Look at the offerings of various coaching institutes. Some of 
these are vying for candidates just after schooling! They have started 
a three-year program for those aspirants who are in the first year of 
their graduation. It is my sincere advice to our younger generation that 
they must not fall prey to the greed of these institutes. The dividends 
Page 3


The Menace of the Coaching Industry
The coaching industry exploits the fear psychosis of the aspirants. The 
contention of the institutes is that they aid and assist in the preparation 
of an aspirant. Right from familiarizing with what civil services are, 
its basic tenets, the pattern of examination, and the recent changes, 
the coaching industry grills the aspirant via its classroom programs, 
test series, and mock interviews so that they become fit to join civil 
services in the eyes of UPSC.
It cannot be denied that coaching is more required for the less self-
motivated candidates. It tends to create regularity in studies by the push 
factor of the speedily advancing course and the pull factor of the fellow 
batch mates. Every aspirant faces a paucity of time in this preparation 
where the course is enormous. Here, the concise notes and the study 
material given by the coaching institutes may also help the candidate if 
used wisely.
However, the other side to this story is far from being innocuous; in 
fact, dismal is the word that I should use. Most of the big names in this 
industry are playing with the dreams of the aspirants. They are using 
pure marketing techniques to attract students from every segment 
and from every corner of the country. And friends, these fraudulent 
techniques are not unknown to us. In 2012, I was in search of a coaching 
program suitable to my needs. I ventured to some big coaching institutes 
and found that each of them claimed at least 500 selections of their own 
among the total of 1100 or so! How? Each of these coaching institutes 
conducted mock interview sessions of successful candidates during the 
main examination. Most of the aspirants register to appear in the mock 
interviews at 2 or even 3 different coaching institutes. The result is 
the high overlapping of the names of successful candidates in various 
institutes.
When I became suspicious of these replicating results of coaching 
institutes, I tried to discern some other ways of selecting the one 
which was ‘perfect’ and which could sail me through this civil 
services preparation. I got hold of The Hindu newspaper and started 
reading it for a few days. On one fine day, I found an open invitation 
to attend a seminar by one ‘success guru.’ That advertisement 
repeated itself continuously for 3 or 4 days. I finally registered 
myself for that miraculous seminar. During the seminar, the ‘success 
guru’ gave us an insight into civil services and various benefits of his 
institute, and he also introduced some of the toppers of that year. 
Those selected candidates spoke so highly of the institute that I was 
impressed and decided to join that institute by submitting a fee of 
around Rs. 40,000/-.
After attending the coaching on weekends for 3 weeks, I could perceive 
the hollowness of the education that the institute was providing. The 
teachers were incompetent and least concerned about the welfare 
of students, and the learning mechanism was absolutely focused on 
rote learning. I was fortunate enough to have perceived the system 
and left it with the least damage done to my concepts and vision; 
otherwise, I would not have been selected to write this book. Only 
financial damage was done to my pocket after I was denied a refund 
by the ‘glamorous’ institute! There would have been numerous such 
aspirants who had shared the same fate and parted ways with their 
hard-earned money for the elaborate yet hollow coaching programs.
The nuisance is not limited to the replication of results only. It stretches 
in various dimensions from thereon, and the impact on the aspirants 
is significant if he/she is not aware of the full facts regarding these 
institutes. Look at the offerings of various coaching institutes. Some of 
these are vying for candidates just after schooling! They have started 
a three-year program for those aspirants who are in the first year of 
their graduation. It is my sincere advice to our younger generation that 
they must not fall prey to the greed of these institutes. The dividends 
The Menace of the Coaching Industry
reaped will be much higher if a college-going student focuses on his/
her graduation courses rather than studying for civil services during 
the college days.
Another flaw in these study schedules is that they are deliberate. 
The industry has thrown an unchallenged assumption that the more 
teaching hours there are, the better it is for the student, and hence, the 
popularity of the institute increases! It seems to me that studying in 
a coaching center has become something like going to an office – the 
difference is that here you have to pay a hefty charge for occupying 
a seat in that ‘office.’ The classes run up to 6 or 8 hours for 6 days, or 
maybe 7 days in a week! And why should the big players not be delighted 
to give such programs to the aspirants? After all, they have to charge up 
to 1.5 lac from a student, so he/she must be engaged for a good period 
of time throughout the course. The corollary of this engagement is that 
the faculties taking such extended study courses are left with no other 
option but to provide very detailed descriptions of the subject matter, 
which, apart from being redundant, creates an unnecessary burden on 
the aspirant. Many, thus, quit during the coaching, and some even drop 
the idea of preparations.
I believe teaching to be a noble profession. However, my practical 
experience in the coaching industry, both as a physics faculty teaching 
students preparing for IIT JEE and as an aspirant for civil services, 
forces me to change my belief system. Yet, there are some people in this 
industry who see the profession not only as a profit-making venture 
but also as a social responsibility. Sankalp Academy is one among those 
few. The entire machinery of the institute, along with the prominent 
teachers associated with it, is working with a mission to deliver the 
best guidance to those aspirants who can’t afford the expenses of 
preparations at market rates. My association with Samkalp was only 
for a short duration, specifically for an interview. During this period, 
I was very well-versed in the method of functioning of the institution. 
One peculiar aspect that struck me was the discipline of the aspirants, 
Page 4


The Menace of the Coaching Industry
The coaching industry exploits the fear psychosis of the aspirants. The 
contention of the institutes is that they aid and assist in the preparation 
of an aspirant. Right from familiarizing with what civil services are, 
its basic tenets, the pattern of examination, and the recent changes, 
the coaching industry grills the aspirant via its classroom programs, 
test series, and mock interviews so that they become fit to join civil 
services in the eyes of UPSC.
It cannot be denied that coaching is more required for the less self-
motivated candidates. It tends to create regularity in studies by the push 
factor of the speedily advancing course and the pull factor of the fellow 
batch mates. Every aspirant faces a paucity of time in this preparation 
where the course is enormous. Here, the concise notes and the study 
material given by the coaching institutes may also help the candidate if 
used wisely.
However, the other side to this story is far from being innocuous; in 
fact, dismal is the word that I should use. Most of the big names in this 
industry are playing with the dreams of the aspirants. They are using 
pure marketing techniques to attract students from every segment 
and from every corner of the country. And friends, these fraudulent 
techniques are not unknown to us. In 2012, I was in search of a coaching 
program suitable to my needs. I ventured to some big coaching institutes 
and found that each of them claimed at least 500 selections of their own 
among the total of 1100 or so! How? Each of these coaching institutes 
conducted mock interview sessions of successful candidates during the 
main examination. Most of the aspirants register to appear in the mock 
interviews at 2 or even 3 different coaching institutes. The result is 
the high overlapping of the names of successful candidates in various 
institutes.
When I became suspicious of these replicating results of coaching 
institutes, I tried to discern some other ways of selecting the one 
which was ‘perfect’ and which could sail me through this civil 
services preparation. I got hold of The Hindu newspaper and started 
reading it for a few days. On one fine day, I found an open invitation 
to attend a seminar by one ‘success guru.’ That advertisement 
repeated itself continuously for 3 or 4 days. I finally registered 
myself for that miraculous seminar. During the seminar, the ‘success 
guru’ gave us an insight into civil services and various benefits of his 
institute, and he also introduced some of the toppers of that year. 
Those selected candidates spoke so highly of the institute that I was 
impressed and decided to join that institute by submitting a fee of 
around Rs. 40,000/-.
After attending the coaching on weekends for 3 weeks, I could perceive 
the hollowness of the education that the institute was providing. The 
teachers were incompetent and least concerned about the welfare 
of students, and the learning mechanism was absolutely focused on 
rote learning. I was fortunate enough to have perceived the system 
and left it with the least damage done to my concepts and vision; 
otherwise, I would not have been selected to write this book. Only 
financial damage was done to my pocket after I was denied a refund 
by the ‘glamorous’ institute! There would have been numerous such 
aspirants who had shared the same fate and parted ways with their 
hard-earned money for the elaborate yet hollow coaching programs.
The nuisance is not limited to the replication of results only. It stretches 
in various dimensions from thereon, and the impact on the aspirants 
is significant if he/she is not aware of the full facts regarding these 
institutes. Look at the offerings of various coaching institutes. Some of 
these are vying for candidates just after schooling! They have started 
a three-year program for those aspirants who are in the first year of 
their graduation. It is my sincere advice to our younger generation that 
they must not fall prey to the greed of these institutes. The dividends 
The Menace of the Coaching Industry
reaped will be much higher if a college-going student focuses on his/
her graduation courses rather than studying for civil services during 
the college days.
Another flaw in these study schedules is that they are deliberate. 
The industry has thrown an unchallenged assumption that the more 
teaching hours there are, the better it is for the student, and hence, the 
popularity of the institute increases! It seems to me that studying in 
a coaching center has become something like going to an office – the 
difference is that here you have to pay a hefty charge for occupying 
a seat in that ‘office.’ The classes run up to 6 or 8 hours for 6 days, or 
maybe 7 days in a week! And why should the big players not be delighted 
to give such programs to the aspirants? After all, they have to charge up 
to 1.5 lac from a student, so he/she must be engaged for a good period 
of time throughout the course. The corollary of this engagement is that 
the faculties taking such extended study courses are left with no other 
option but to provide very detailed descriptions of the subject matter, 
which, apart from being redundant, creates an unnecessary burden on 
the aspirant. Many, thus, quit during the coaching, and some even drop 
the idea of preparations.
I believe teaching to be a noble profession. However, my practical 
experience in the coaching industry, both as a physics faculty teaching 
students preparing for IIT JEE and as an aspirant for civil services, 
forces me to change my belief system. Yet, there are some people in this 
industry who see the profession not only as a profit-making venture 
but also as a social responsibility. Sankalp Academy is one among those 
few. The entire machinery of the institute, along with the prominent 
teachers associated with it, is working with a mission to deliver the 
best guidance to those aspirants who can’t afford the expenses of 
preparations at market rates. My association with Samkalp was only 
for a short duration, specifically for an interview. During this period, 
I was very well-versed in the method of functioning of the institution. 
One peculiar aspect that struck me was the discipline of the aspirants, 
which is required to inculcate in them the character and ethos of 
civil servants. However, Samkalp is limited in its capacity, and such 
endeavors are few to serve such a large number of aspirants throughout 
the country. Another highly effective program is the essay in the main 
paper offered by the RIAS Academy. A small academy, with not so 
marvelous infrastructure, is able to deliver the best quality service 
at a very reasonable price. What is commendable is the approach of 
the teacher, Dr. B. Ramaswamy, whose solemn belief is to remain 
always approachable to the aspirant as opposed to that of a ‘celebrity 
faculty’ who would vanish after taking the class of 200 plus students! 
The institute’s GS test series was highly exhaustive and consisted of 
more than 30 papers. These papers are to be written in a time-bound 
manner and in a fixed-space scenario. Proper evaluation of the answers 
by Dr. B. Ramaswamy and suggestions thereupon were appreciable. 
Yet, such academies are few, and I expect that they would expand their 
infrastructure. I also hope that certain other such initiatives will come 
to light.
With the role of the coaching industry far from being minuscule in the 
present scenario, there have to be considerable reforms in this particular 
segment dealing with civil services. Think about it, my dear friends 
and future aspirants. What you require are not elaborate, extensive, 
and exhaustive coaching programs but short guidance techniques and 
interactions at a personal level with the faculties. These interactions 
will serve a purpose once you have read the basic texts for the subject 
matter, which you will find explicitly written in the coming chapters 
on preliminary and mains. Such a demand from the market will force 
the coaching institutes to restructure their courses, making them more 
interactive rather than promoting rote learning. Consequently, the fee 
structure would then have to be relaxed to a considerable extent as 
the number of hours will reduce drastically. If, instead of full-fledged 
classroom programs, we find the acceptability of short and sweet 
guidance modules.
Page 5


The Menace of the Coaching Industry
The coaching industry exploits the fear psychosis of the aspirants. The 
contention of the institutes is that they aid and assist in the preparation 
of an aspirant. Right from familiarizing with what civil services are, 
its basic tenets, the pattern of examination, and the recent changes, 
the coaching industry grills the aspirant via its classroom programs, 
test series, and mock interviews so that they become fit to join civil 
services in the eyes of UPSC.
It cannot be denied that coaching is more required for the less self-
motivated candidates. It tends to create regularity in studies by the push 
factor of the speedily advancing course and the pull factor of the fellow 
batch mates. Every aspirant faces a paucity of time in this preparation 
where the course is enormous. Here, the concise notes and the study 
material given by the coaching institutes may also help the candidate if 
used wisely.
However, the other side to this story is far from being innocuous; in 
fact, dismal is the word that I should use. Most of the big names in this 
industry are playing with the dreams of the aspirants. They are using 
pure marketing techniques to attract students from every segment 
and from every corner of the country. And friends, these fraudulent 
techniques are not unknown to us. In 2012, I was in search of a coaching 
program suitable to my needs. I ventured to some big coaching institutes 
and found that each of them claimed at least 500 selections of their own 
among the total of 1100 or so! How? Each of these coaching institutes 
conducted mock interview sessions of successful candidates during the 
main examination. Most of the aspirants register to appear in the mock 
interviews at 2 or even 3 different coaching institutes. The result is 
the high overlapping of the names of successful candidates in various 
institutes.
When I became suspicious of these replicating results of coaching 
institutes, I tried to discern some other ways of selecting the one 
which was ‘perfect’ and which could sail me through this civil 
services preparation. I got hold of The Hindu newspaper and started 
reading it for a few days. On one fine day, I found an open invitation 
to attend a seminar by one ‘success guru.’ That advertisement 
repeated itself continuously for 3 or 4 days. I finally registered 
myself for that miraculous seminar. During the seminar, the ‘success 
guru’ gave us an insight into civil services and various benefits of his 
institute, and he also introduced some of the toppers of that year. 
Those selected candidates spoke so highly of the institute that I was 
impressed and decided to join that institute by submitting a fee of 
around Rs. 40,000/-.
After attending the coaching on weekends for 3 weeks, I could perceive 
the hollowness of the education that the institute was providing. The 
teachers were incompetent and least concerned about the welfare 
of students, and the learning mechanism was absolutely focused on 
rote learning. I was fortunate enough to have perceived the system 
and left it with the least damage done to my concepts and vision; 
otherwise, I would not have been selected to write this book. Only 
financial damage was done to my pocket after I was denied a refund 
by the ‘glamorous’ institute! There would have been numerous such 
aspirants who had shared the same fate and parted ways with their 
hard-earned money for the elaborate yet hollow coaching programs.
The nuisance is not limited to the replication of results only. It stretches 
in various dimensions from thereon, and the impact on the aspirants 
is significant if he/she is not aware of the full facts regarding these 
institutes. Look at the offerings of various coaching institutes. Some of 
these are vying for candidates just after schooling! They have started 
a three-year program for those aspirants who are in the first year of 
their graduation. It is my sincere advice to our younger generation that 
they must not fall prey to the greed of these institutes. The dividends 
The Menace of the Coaching Industry
reaped will be much higher if a college-going student focuses on his/
her graduation courses rather than studying for civil services during 
the college days.
Another flaw in these study schedules is that they are deliberate. 
The industry has thrown an unchallenged assumption that the more 
teaching hours there are, the better it is for the student, and hence, the 
popularity of the institute increases! It seems to me that studying in 
a coaching center has become something like going to an office – the 
difference is that here you have to pay a hefty charge for occupying 
a seat in that ‘office.’ The classes run up to 6 or 8 hours for 6 days, or 
maybe 7 days in a week! And why should the big players not be delighted 
to give such programs to the aspirants? After all, they have to charge up 
to 1.5 lac from a student, so he/she must be engaged for a good period 
of time throughout the course. The corollary of this engagement is that 
the faculties taking such extended study courses are left with no other 
option but to provide very detailed descriptions of the subject matter, 
which, apart from being redundant, creates an unnecessary burden on 
the aspirant. Many, thus, quit during the coaching, and some even drop 
the idea of preparations.
I believe teaching to be a noble profession. However, my practical 
experience in the coaching industry, both as a physics faculty teaching 
students preparing for IIT JEE and as an aspirant for civil services, 
forces me to change my belief system. Yet, there are some people in this 
industry who see the profession not only as a profit-making venture 
but also as a social responsibility. Sankalp Academy is one among those 
few. The entire machinery of the institute, along with the prominent 
teachers associated with it, is working with a mission to deliver the 
best guidance to those aspirants who can’t afford the expenses of 
preparations at market rates. My association with Samkalp was only 
for a short duration, specifically for an interview. During this period, 
I was very well-versed in the method of functioning of the institution. 
One peculiar aspect that struck me was the discipline of the aspirants, 
which is required to inculcate in them the character and ethos of 
civil servants. However, Samkalp is limited in its capacity, and such 
endeavors are few to serve such a large number of aspirants throughout 
the country. Another highly effective program is the essay in the main 
paper offered by the RIAS Academy. A small academy, with not so 
marvelous infrastructure, is able to deliver the best quality service 
at a very reasonable price. What is commendable is the approach of 
the teacher, Dr. B. Ramaswamy, whose solemn belief is to remain 
always approachable to the aspirant as opposed to that of a ‘celebrity 
faculty’ who would vanish after taking the class of 200 plus students! 
The institute’s GS test series was highly exhaustive and consisted of 
more than 30 papers. These papers are to be written in a time-bound 
manner and in a fixed-space scenario. Proper evaluation of the answers 
by Dr. B. Ramaswamy and suggestions thereupon were appreciable. 
Yet, such academies are few, and I expect that they would expand their 
infrastructure. I also hope that certain other such initiatives will come 
to light.
With the role of the coaching industry far from being minuscule in the 
present scenario, there have to be considerable reforms in this particular 
segment dealing with civil services. Think about it, my dear friends 
and future aspirants. What you require are not elaborate, extensive, 
and exhaustive coaching programs but short guidance techniques and 
interactions at a personal level with the faculties. These interactions 
will serve a purpose once you have read the basic texts for the subject 
matter, which you will find explicitly written in the coming chapters 
on preliminary and mains. Such a demand from the market will force 
the coaching institutes to restructure their courses, making them more 
interactive rather than promoting rote learning. Consequently, the fee 
structure would then have to be relaxed to a considerable extent as 
the number of hours will reduce drastically. If, instead of full-fledged 
classroom programs, we find the acceptability of short and sweet 
guidance modules.
The Menace of the Coaching Industry
I don’t know how and when this gross error of the institutes will be 
realized by the aspirants. The sooner it happens, the better it becomes. 
Nevertheless, at present, we must delve into divergent analyses of the 
myths and FAQs related to the coaching sector so as to arrive at some 
general loopholes and benefits of the same.