Colleges as civil service coaching hubs

From January 2026, successful Chennai, those aspiring to ace competitory examinations that would unfastened doors to civilian services jobs person an added spot to sojourn to sharpen their borderline — the IAS survey ellipse established by Annai Veilankanni assemblage astatine its premises successful Saidapet. While offering coaching to its arts and subject students astatine a “subsidised” fee, the assemblage rolls retired the reddish carpet to aspirants successful their neighbourhood.

Both arts and subject and engineering colleges moving their in-house academies/ survey circles that service arsenic a pathway to a vocation successful civilian services is not a caller trend, conscionable that the fig of institutions offering this enactment has been connected the summation implicit the years.

From authorities colleges to self-financing institutions, a focused radical oregon centre providing coaching, mock tests, inviting adept speakers and offering personalised guidance for occurrence successful examinations conducted by UPSC and TNPSC has go an important talking point.

While a bulk of institutions connection these classes astatine nary cost, immoderate levy a nominal fee. Many of them bash not committedness intensive coaching, conscionable a motorboat pad. This world year, A.M. Jain College successful Meenambakkam opened 2 survey circles, 1 for careers successful equipped forces and the different for UPSC coaching, some offered escaped of cost.

“In a people of 40 if 1 cracks the exam past it motivates the others. The mentation for the exam is specified that determination is greater collaboration among students and determination is simply a plentifulness of resources disposable connected the field for students to get overmuch retired of it. We lone spot students gaining by preparing for specified examinations,” says M. Ramya, dean, AM Jain College. A module related to the taxable is asked to handhold the students. “We guarantee determination is abstracted remuneration for immoderate value-added people a module takes up,” she says.

For those keen connected intensive training, A.M. Jain College has a MoU with an outer academy that comes to the field to bid students astatine a cost.

For students focused connected cracking the exam, the assemblage grants them on-duty permission to hole earlier exams oregon gives a re-test if they person missed an interior exam, says the Dean of A.M. Jain College.

Colleges opening their doors for outer coaching academies and roping successful impermanent speakers means students prevention connected the further question they would person to undertake to entree these resources.

Last year, Guru Nanak College acceptable up a committee to enactment students keen connected a vocation successful the civilian services.

The website of KCG Tech says its Civil Service Aspiration Club conducts classes each alternate week for 2 hours, which includes exam mentation and talks from UPSC achievers and high-ranking civilian servants. Easwari Engineering College calls its programme Civil Services Training Programme. CTTE College successful Perambur is progressively focusing connected helping its students excel successful Group II and IV exams.

Janani G, a Union Public Service Commission aspirant and a tutor astatine academies, says, “When I graduated from engineering assemblage 12 years ago, we did not person specified avenues being opened to us. There whitethorn not beryllium galore occurrence stories from colleges, but that is good arsenic agelong arsenic students are getting vulnerability adjacent portion pursuing nether graduation.”

With authorities funding

Even earlier Chennai began to witnesser a craze for civilian services, Queen Mary’s College started providing escaped grooming since 2001 for women graduates who are selected done an entranceway exam and interview. The escaped coaching centre is funded by the authorities of Tamil Nadu.

But much inactive needs to beryllium done. Despite having Anna Nagar, which is hailed arsenic a magnet for civilian work coaching centres and colleges grooming students to deliberation of a vocation successful UPSC, Chennai is yet to spot a drawstring of occurrence stories. Delhi continues to spot the highest fig of palmy UPSC candidates.

Fashioning civilian servants for 25 years

For the past 25 years, Directorate of Employment and Training has been moving ‘Study Circles’ that relation astatine each the territory employment and vocation guidance centres successful the State. These centres assistance aspirants successful assorted competitory examinations including UPSC, TNPSC and RRB by conducting mock tests and inviting experts to behaviour sessions.

According to www.tnvelaivaaippu.gov.in, escaped coaching is offered to the differently-abled aspirants by engaging motion connection interpreters and Braille assistance is fixed to the visually challenged.

Coaching classes are besides conducted astatine assorted universities and affiliated arts and subject colleges to assistance economically anemic students studying successful the last year. In 2024 and 2025, astatine slightest 10 students who attended classes astatine the Study Circle person cleared TNPSC examinations. One tin avail these classes connected each weekdays (between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.). They besides person a room with a bully postulation of books.

The Study Circle is located astatine Alandur Road, Thiru-vi-ka Industrial Estate, Guindy. For details, telephone 94999 66026.