This humungous coaching culture is the product of a mindless pursuit by question paper setters of UPSC to ask such complex questions which are beyond the capability of any normal graduate. This sets in process the birth of a gigantic coaching industry, the ill effects of which are yet to be studied and unearthed. It has not only destroyed many young lives caught in the web of coaching mafias, writes former IAS officer V.S.Pandey
The sacrosanct Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and its selection of the coveted IAS candidates is making news for all the wrong reasons. Firstly it is due to the Pooja Khedkar episode, which has highlighted the scam in garnering various quotas illegally by many who are now occupying prestigious positions fraudulently. The tragically horrific death of three IAS aspirants, by drowning, in the basement of a famous coaching provider has exposed the rot further. The media’s expose, the graphic horror stories of exploitation of hapless aspirants by famous and well established coaching centers is out in the open and as the media inputs portray, the aspirants are vulnerable victims in the unrelenting vicious octopus like grip of the coaching mafias.
The pertinent question in interrogating the powers that be is – why do aspirants need coaching so desperately? The answer is straight forward- UPSC devised the pattern of the civil services examination in such a way that no one could be confident of cracking it unless they are coached to ensure proper preparations for the CSE. The Preliminary examinations in CSE was introduced in the year 1979. The Kothari Commission that was set up to suggest reforms in the prestigious civil services exams came up with the novel idea of screening of non-serious aspirants from serious aspirants and ensuring that the UPSC should not be burdened with the judging of answer sheets of non-serious candidates thus effectively minimizing their own labor.
What are examiners for? When the aspirants were spending their time and money gainfully, knowing the enormity of the syllabus of the IAS exam, who was UPSC or any other examining body to dub them as non-serious candidates? The advent of the preliminary screening examinations led to birthing of a plethora of coaching centers across the country because aspirants had no clue then and do not even know now, how to crack it. The problem was compounded further by the paper setters, engaged by UPSC, who in the race to frame tough questions- set papers which were even beyond the capacity of experts to answer. The question is still abegging – why do you need to set such questions which are beyond the scope of the minimum educational qualification set by UPSC itself – graduation in any discipline. This humungous coaching culture is the product of a mindless pursuit by question paper setters of UPSC to ask such complex questions which are beyond the capability of any normal graduate. This sets in process the birth of a gigantic coaching industry, the ill effects of which are yet to be studied and unearthed. It has not only destroyed many young lives caught in the web of coaching mafias but has brought about a change in the mindset of those who finally succeed in cracking the civil services exams.
The governments remain oblivious of the elephant wildly stomping in the room, the mindless changes suggested and finally implemented by the system with hardly any understanding of the ensuing consequences. What are the salient requirements that any examination system set up to select officers to man higher positions in the governments should focus on? Elementary- the aspirants need to show that they are sharp, have knowledge of the discipline, and are hardworking, honest and sincere in their actions. Barring honesty, all other traits can be judged by simple examination techniques. Everyone has gone through the diverse board examination system at various levels conducted by various secondary boards and universities across the country and only a few could excel in these exams and these successes come with sincere efforts, hard work and sharpness of mind. Set up any question paper of reasonable quality, the number of students securing high percentages will still be minuscule. Do our renowned universities ever endeavor to set question papers with the sole objective of tripping the students? No! Then why did the UPSC change the level playing field with introduction of this preliminary examination system with its tricks and speedy answering strategies which only coaching can train in answering. Without coaching there is no gaming of this mother of all exams.
The system does not exist for the comfort of those conducting the exam- they are there to serve the public interest and for that they must work tirelessly and not try to minimize their workload by transferring all their effort to smart machines through introduction of OMR sheets. This preliminary exam, through Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet machine evaluation system, saves their labor and headaches but it has ruined the lives of lacs of aspirants who still do not know why they have not cleared this “evil” test despite their prodigious efforts and why they were never tested in their prolific domain knowledge. Why should UPSC not allow everyone to take the main exam , which used to be the practice before 1979 and then evaluate them as pass or fail?
The present examination system has created this monster “coaching mafia” which is making lacs of bright students suffer at hellholes variously named Rajendra Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar , Kota etc. Aspirants pay lacs of rupees to these coaching mafias, which they can ill afford, live in cramped 10X10 rooms which are shared with four others at an astronomical rent of Rs15000, meagre space for sitting and studying is rented in cramped basement libraries by shelling out a further Rs 4000, but all these tribulations and hard work notwithstanding, they fail to clear the exams. Due to the callous treachery of all those involved in this dirty flourishing game of self interest, aspirants go through a vicious cycle of repeated failures and waste six to eight years of their prime youth.
This is a template for most aspirants of all the entrance examinations like JEE, NEET, CUET which have caused innumerable harassment to lacs of aspirants for no fault of theirs. Copying the UPSC pattern of segregation of non serious candidates from serious candidates, IIT’s introduced the screening exams and gave birth to the burgeoning “Kota factory” which has already taken many lives and facilitated mushrooming of other coaching centers across the country.
The level of question papers of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission to IIT’s are a similar story. Unless a student rigorously prepares for the JEE exam for at least two to three years, he cannot expect to succeed because of the high difficulty levels of the examination papers. The JEE exams are conducted by a body named Joint Admission Board, inside the IIT system. It has been successfully conducting these exams with utmost honesty but is totally blind to the reality of the damage this examination system has caused to our school education system and mental agony to lacs of aspirants and their families. The newly introduced Central University Entrance Test exam is yet another mindless experiment which is going to further destroy the school system irreparably as now the secondary education results cannot guarantee admission of students in any premier institution as used to happen earlier .
The main problem is that while devising policies or making decisions, the interest of the most important stakeholder the “student” is totally ignored and decisions are taken to protect and keeping in mind only the interest of those manning institutions, the teaching fraternity, and the whims and fancies of the government of the day. This willful and abject neglect of the students community’s interest, the main stakeholder of any education system, has led to proliferation of coaching centers, a totally skewed entrance exam system and the rampant commercialization of our education system. The disastrous result of all this is apparent in the tremendous exploitation, agony and test of physical endurance that defines the bedeviled lives of these competing aspirants -our most precious demographic resource. Clean up should begin now.
(Vijay Shankar Pandey is former Secretary Government of India)
