One classroom at the century-old Queen Mary’s College stays open throughout the year — even during the vacations.
Here, young women with civil service aspirations undergo coaching, when the college closes for vacations.
Since 2001, this has been the only UPSC Civil Service Free Coaching Centre for women in the city started by the Government.
A similar centre functions from Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women in Madurai.
Every year, 60 candidates are selected following an entrance exam and interview to be given coaching for the prelims exam.
“This year, we have enrolled 85 students, the highest so far. Forty of them are engineering graduates, a few are medicos and the rest come from other professions. This heterogeneous group makes for effective learning,” says N. Amudha, head of department, post graduate and research, Department of History, Queen Mary’s College and co-ordinator for the programme.
Classes, held on all week days from 8.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m., cover all the major subjects with a majority of the faculty being civil service aspirants.
Farheen S.M., a faculty teaching ancient and medieval history and an aspirant, says learning from someone who has just passed the exam, helps.
Candidates have access to the library which has over 3,000 books. Having senior bureaucrats as guest speakers is another advantage.
Many candidates find the environment more motivating than the one provided by private centres and therefore want the service extended to the Civil Service (Main) examination.
The centre has been making representations to the Government in this regard.
Currently, coaching is offered only for the prelims.
At least a dozen candidates clear the prelims and some get into TNPSC Group II and III from the coaching.
“But we do not have a database of candidates who have cleared the Main exam as some even move out of the city for coaching,” says Amudha. “We get many candidates from Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and other districts but as there is no hostel facility many are hesitant to enrol,” says Amudha.
