Around 3,000 aspirants have registered for the ‘Chief Minister’s Super 50’ coaching programme which was launched with the goal to produce successful candidates for the examination to select civil servants at the national and state levels.
According to an official, the scheme has been launched as a pilot project in the state and depending on the response received this year, the government could set up more centres in different districts.
The coaching programme, which will begin by the end of January, has been undertaken by the State Level Advisory Committee (SLAC) for Students and Youth Welfare, under the department of Sports and Youth Welfare.
Officials from SLAC said that the nine-month long coaching would be provided free of cost with boarding and lodging facilities for the aspirants who get selected.
“We have received a very encouraging response from the candidates. The final 50 students will be selected after a preliminary screening test to be conducted on the pattern of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examinations. In the selection process, preference will be given to candidates hailing from economically poor backgrounds,” said Shyam Choudhary, programme officer at SLAC.
He added that an interview and counselling session would also be held after the first round of screening.
The coaching programme is based on a concept similar to that of Anand Kumar’s successful Super 30 in Bihar where he trains 30 meritorious students hailing from economically backward sections of society, for the entrance examination to the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs).
Around 15 faculty members for this first-of-its-kind initiative in Assam will be hired from New Delhi and Hyderabad, said officials.
The candidates will also be given tablets in which they will be able to access audio recordings of their classes, online study material as well as newspapers and magazines.
Super 50 to improve performance of Assam candidates in UPSC
Officials said that they wanted to improve the poor performance of the state in UPSC examinations as over the years, the candidates from Assam have not been performing well in the competitive examination. In 2016, only 13 candidates from Assam had qualified in the UPSC.
"It has been seen that many candidates take the coaching but do not sit for the examination. Last year only 160 candidates appeared for the preliminary examination out of a total of 400 who availed the coaching,” said an SLAC official.
In order to check this trend, the authorities will take a signed undertaking from the candidate’s parents stating that their ward will appear for the examinations.
In CM’s Super 50, eight hours of classes would be conducted daily and candidates would be put up in hostels under strict regulations.
"They will not be allowed to watch movies or television, there will be strict monitoring of their in-and-out timings and there will be a warden for 24 hours in the hostel,” said authorities.
An official said that one of the reasons that students from the state do not fare well is because they don’t devote enough time for preparations. Even among those who clear the examination from the state, a majority of them live and prepare in Delhi.
“Students here start preparing for civil services very late, often after completing their graduation as they do not properly plan for their career whereas, it requires around three to four years of dedicated hard work to clear the UPSC,” said Zafreen Mehjabi, Director of Unified IAS Academy in Guwahati.
She added that many candidates do not have the habit of reading the newspaper whereas a lot of questions are based on current affairs, especially in the preliminary examinations.
“However, the awareness is increasing among students and hopefully we will see more successful candidates in the future,” she said.
This year, in order to motivate candidates from Assam, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has also announced a scholarship of Rs 1.25 lakhs to each of the 61 candidates from the state who have cleared the UPSC’s preliminary examination.
Highlights:
· 3,000 UPSC aspirants from the state have registered for the “Chief Minister’s Super 50” coaching programme
· The programme has been launched to produce more successful candidates from the state in the UPSC and APSC examinations
· This has been started as a pilot project which will be started in other places in Assam after this year’s response
· Officials want to improve state’s poor performance in UPSC examinations
· Experts say that candidates do not devote enough time for preparation