Bhubaneswar: Questions are now being raised on the success of the free civil services coaching initiative in degree colleges across the state which is going to be operational from next academic year. The state government had recently announced the programme to increase the success rate of Odia students in all-India administrative services exams which has been on the decline, of late. The skepticism stems from two grounds – the failure of the free coaching programmes launched earlier, and the large number of vacancies in teachers’ posts across colleges, the latter being the biggest impediment in imparting coaching to students.
As per the announcement, it was decided to impart coaching to students in degree colleges and universities. The Higher Education department had decided that these institutions would support the initiative with their funds. In a review meeting chaired by Higher Education Secretary Aravind Agrawal held last month it was decided that changes will be introduced in the syllabus keeping in mind the examination pattern of competitive tests like UPSC and OPSC. However, no guidelines have been formulated so far. It is worth mentioning that 200 students had enrolled themselves in the free coaching scheme earlier launched by the department. They expected that the success rate would increase in all-India administrative services, especially for poor and meritorious students, if they were given coaching at the college level.
However, success eludes the students as well as the state government even as crores have been spent on the earlier schemes to provide free coaching to aspiring students. This is primarily on account of the lack of infrastructure and paucity of teachers. As per data tabled in the Assembly, as many as 906 posts of teaching staff are lying vacant in government degree colleges. Golak Nayak, president of 662- category teachers’ association, said that although the initiative of the state government is welcoming, emphasis should be laid on making it operational as soon as possible. “The announcement was made though no guidelines were set. The Nua-Odisha programme is in progress while the election is around the corner in which the government will be busy. I’m doubtful if the scheme could be implemented from the next academic year.” Nayak added that the most important factor is over 50 per cent of vacancies in teachers posts across degree colleges in the state. “They should rather focus on filling these vacancies,” he said.
Meanwhile, efforts to elicit a response from the Higher Education secretary yielded no results. It may be noted that free coaching centres were opened in more than 50-degree colleges and eight universities between 2016 and 2018. Students prepared for UPSC exams along with studies free of cost. However, no success could be achieved following which the state government signed an agreement with private institutes in the second phase in 2019- 20 and launched a coaching hub in Bhubaneswar. A total of 99 students were enrolled at the facility of which none could be successful. Given the experience, doubts have been raised about the progress and success of the free coaching scheme for the IAS exam in colleges.
