Choosing a Coaching Class

I heard a lot about the Kerala Civil Service academy. This review is about the pros and cons of it.

The pros are:

1. No money burden. If you pass your prelims you get your Mains money back(Mains fee: 10, 000 Rs in 2009).

   
   




2. Good reading room. It is spacious and friendly.

   
   




3. Above average library. It has most of the minimum required books. It has a friendly librarian too.

   
   




4. Class room infra is okay. Class rooms are not crowded.

   
   




5. Good student crowd. Most of the students who come there are talented and capable. They just need to be nurtured.

   
   




6. All subjects covered. Even if you are the only person for a subject, you will be taken in.

   
   




7. If you pass your Mains, you get accomodation in Delhi during the interview. Travel expenses are also covered.

   
   

Cons:

1. Faculty, other than one or two, are not well versed with Civil Services exam. So more than focussed coaching, you get verbose lectures.

   
   




2. Continuous coaching is not available. There are so many vacations and holidays, that it feels like a  govt. office. There are Onam celebrations, Christmas celebrations and more classes are wasted.

   
   




3. Lack of information at the time of admission. The counsellor is not ready to divulge information on the course. So you don’t know anything about course material, get no interaction with faculty and no valuable advice. It is okay for people from Kerala, since for them, the risk of choosing a wrong institute is low.

   
   




4. The results are inflated. People who came there just for interview coaching are shown as long time students. Many a times the interview candidates come there because Kerala Govt. provides ticket charges and accomodation in Delhi through the institute.

   
   




5. Only 4 out of their 20 winners last time(2009) were long term students. All else were just interview candidates.

   
   

My suggestion is to join the institute for Mains and use their library. But don’t attend all classes. Attend a selected few. If you get through Prelims, you will get your money back. But importantly, search outside for good institutes and teachers. Start attending classes there ASAP. I had got a great teacher outside, who I don’t want to name in this review. I wrote this review because I was in your position in 2009.

Thanks for reading.